Goodbye to an old friend.

Whilst walking in the park yesterday I was shocked to see that the largest of all the trees in the park had been taken down.

I don`t know if it was diseased or it was cut down as part of the borough councils park redevelopment programme,either way it`s gone.

I don`t know how old it was but the house that is sited on the land dates back to the 16th century,can`t see the tree being that age but I can imagine it to be extremely old.

Maybe a tree type person on the forum might be able to `guesstimate` its age from the photo.



The umbrella on the top is 40 ins long and there was approx 10 ins left on either side.

 

Any idea what species it was Pip? If it was a conifer, I would guess between 100 and 150 years. An Oak of that size girth would probably older. Of course, you could count the rings.

 

Was it a beech pip?
Local councils seem to cut them down just in case they become dangerous.
I saw one locally that came down in a storm, it was a big one and looked healthy.
The whole trunk shattered and there was barely any wood in the trunk that wasn't rotten.

 

It was a very large oak.

 

Then I would say 200 years +?

 

Just go and count the rings pip.
People think your mad but it dont bother me. :rolleyes:

 

Did start counting the rings Pete but the darker area in the middle made it impossible to seperate them.

You reckon could be 200 yrs plus David? Thats a lot of years and a lot of passers by over time.

 

Its sad pip, was it looking a bit dead around the edges last summer?

 

Easily 200.

Hard to tell from the pic but there looks to have been some decay.

 

The thing is Pip. it`s gone and will not be coming back.

 

Couldn`t really say what state it was in last year as I spent most of the summer trying to keep the rain off my face by looking at the floor.

 

Having studied the picture carefully, it would seem the most likely reason they chopped it down was the fact that there was a 200 year old blue umbrella growing inside it?

 

Only Joking. All that history gone in one fell swoop.

 

Bunslip, you`ve cracked it, it was a 200 year old UMBRELLA PLANT. :D

 

Groan. :D