Parish Councils.© Images: John Bundy, Dickon Ainsworth, Dick Greenaway 2008 Greenaway Dick Ainsworth, Dickon Bundy, John Images: Councils.© Parish Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group, West Berkshire Council, Englefield Estate, Environment Agency, and local local and Agency, Environment Estate, Englefield Council, Berkshire West Group, Advisory Wildlife and Farming Pang, Kennet & Lambourn Valleys Countryside Project is a partnership funded and supported by: supported and funded partnership a is Project Countryside Valleys Lambourn & Kennet Pang, Volunteers Conservation Conservation Website: www.pangandkennetvalleys.org.uk Website: Bucklebury Common Bucklebury Tel/Fax: 0118 9305336 Email: [email protected] Email: 9305336 0118 Tel/Fax: The Old Estate Office, Englefield Road, Theale, Berkshire RG7 5DZ RG7 Berkshire Theale, Road, Englefield Office, Estate Old The (FWAG) Project Countryside Valleys Lambourn & Kennet Pang, c/o Valleys Lambourn & Kennet Pang, the of Friends The trees with a story to tell and experiences to share to experiences and tell to story a with trees Veteran Trees for the Future the for Trees Veteran [email protected] buckleburyparish email: RG17 0UN RG17 863581 01635 Tel: 01189 714187 01189 Tel: Hungerford RG7 5DZ RG7 Tel: Tel: org.uk Lower Denford Lower Theale, RG7 6RR RG7 www.woodland-trust. Denford Manor Denford Englefield Road, Englefield Berkshire 6SD RG7 Natural Beauty Natural NG31 6LL NG31 Office, Bucklebury Upper Bucklebury Upper Outstanding Outstanding Lincolnshire The Old Estate Estate Old The Bucklebury House Bucklebury Area of of Area Saints, All Project FWAG Project Grantham, Grantham, The Estate Office Estate The Downs Countryside Countryside Estate Autumn Park, Park, Autumn Council North Wessex Wessex North Woodland Trust Woodland Pang Valley Valley Pang Bucklebury Bucklebury Bucklebury Parish Parish Bucklebury During World War 2 part of the Common was used to store military equipment. military store to used was Common the of part 2 War World During heathers. and oaks birches, favour soils acid The heathland. the 20th century. The Bucklebury Heathland Project is working to recover and conserve conserve and recover to working is Project Heathland Bucklebury The century. 20th are particularly acid and much of the Common was open heathland until the mid mid the until heathland open was Common the of much and acid particularly are between the Pang and Kennet valleys and was once the bed of a large river. The soils soils The river. large a of bed the once was and valleys Kennet and Pang the between Bucklebury Common is owned by Bucklebury Estate. It lies on a curving gravel ridge ridge gravel curving a on lies It Estate. Bucklebury by owned is Common Bucklebury adley T Basingstoke A343 A34 Aldermaston A339 A340 Newbury oolhampton W Thatcham A4 Bucklebury Upper Beenham Chapel Row Chapel Cold Ash Cold A4 London B4009 Bucklebury Theale 12 B4494 Dingley M4 Swindon 13 Stanford Frilsham Hermitage Reading M4 attendon Y B4494 A340 A34 A329 Pangbourne B4009 Oxford Veteran trees Dating Veteran Trees and Coppice Stools are trees with a story to tell and experience to share This is not an exact science! Veteran Trees can tell us tales of their Woodland products were vitally However, you can make a reasonable Approximate Ageing Curve for Oaks lives, of when they were planted and important before railways and motor estimate by measuring the girth at about growing in Open Conditions what they provided for the people who vehicles could distribute coal and before 1.5m above the ground and then using Trees in woodland will be older for the same the diagram. lived near them. plastics were invented. dimensions. For pollard and coppiced oaks The ‘girth’ is the tree’s ‘waist add 30% to the age indicated by the girth. They can tell how the land was used and Pollard trees were cut off at about measurement’! two or three metres above the ground give clues to the age of the landscape 7.0 so that animals could not graze the The curve gives the estimated age of features they stand on. To add to this, a Maiden tree – a tree which has not 6.0 shoots which were harvested at regular their scars and rugged barks provide been cut. 5.0 ) intervals. Pollard oaks and beeches 4.0 homes and food supplies for a multitude Pollarding slows the growth until the provided firewood and small timber. Girth (m 3.0 of wildlife from fungi and invertebrates canopy re-grows. Add an extra third to Acorns and beech mast were valuable 2.0 to birds and mammals. their age. food for animals in the autumn. 1.0 Coppicing has the same effect. Take 0 Veteran Trees for the Future need 0 100 200 300 400 500 Coppice stools were cut near ground Approximate Age (years) not necessarily be ancient trees now, but an average diameter of the stool near level and their shoots harvested at short ground level and allow 0.3 metre for they will be trees with a significance for Beech and ash follow approximately the intervals. Their shoots provided small every century. same curve up to about 150-200 years the local community or with particular timber for fencing hurdles and tool historic or ecological importance. handles etc. Map no. Tree species and description Girth (m) 2008 Estimated age This is illustrated by the trees selected 1 Sessile oak – pollard 6.9 520+ by the local people who chose the trees Generally the tenant had the use of the 2 Oak stub 5.85 600 in this leaflet. shoots of pollards and coppice stools 3 Beech – multi-stemmed maiden 5.04 260 while the lord of the manor owned 4 Beech – multi-stemmed 4.01 ??? Veteran Trees are important and valued the pollard trunks and coppice stools. 5 Oak - pollard 3.97 260 features in the landscape of the North Regularly cut pollards and stools live 6 Beech – multi-stemmed 4.72 ??? Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding much longer than ordinary trees. Our 7 Oak - maiden 4.07 210 Natural Beauty which sponsors the oldest trees, like the Coronation Oak, 8 Oak - maiden 5.43 330 Veteran Trees for the Future project. are pollards.s. 9 Oak - pollard 3.21 200 10 Oak stub 4.50 325 11 What species and age do you think these two trees are? We challenge you to go out look and measure! Our estimate is 12 on the Friends’ web site www.pangandkennetvalleys.org.uk 13 Wellingtonia / Less Than 150 Sessile oak. English oak. Acorns on the twig. Acorns on stalks. Beech Sessile oak English oak Beech English An planted about Veteran Trees KEY: These are Veterans recorded for the Woodland Trust Ancient Tree Hunt. For more information go to www.AncientTreeHunt.org.uk What species and age is this tree? Big Foot. Oak 1680 at the western end of The Avenue What species and age is this tree? A pollard oak at the west end of the Avenue is about 210 years old Wellingtonia were first introduced in 1853 so this giant cannot be more than 150 years old The Coronation Oak. This pollarded sessile oak started life in Tudor times and is about 520 years old. In 1902 Edward VII’s coronation was celebrated with a picnic in its shade by 1200 people 1 3 2 5 9 7 56 54 55 57 is 52 53 12 pollard Oak This probably 200 years old This oak stub stands on the Common boundary bank and is probably a boundary marker. It is at least 325 years old. It is prized as a climbing tree 70 N 1 kilometre on behalf of HMSO. Pollard oak about 260 years old OS Licence Number: 100002091 Reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey by permission of Ordnance Reproduced 69 which may have 4 6 11 8 Oak stub this tree is probably 600 years old and may have been a boundary marker Another multi-stemmed beech grown from a coppice stool 10 13 This elegant Beech is about 260 years old This multi-stemmed beech may be the result of several beech nuts germinating in a squirrel’s hoard This elegant Beech is about 150 years old.