Rain, snow and sub-zero temperatures weren’t enough to stop the landscaping team over the last few weeks, with plenty of work to do and an exciting new study to find the oldest tree on the Greenway.
Following our successful tree planting program last year, we decided to carry out a tree survey, hoping to find out which is the oldest oak tree on the Greenway. We found many that were about 200 years old but we felt there must be older trees on the Greenway.
The oldest oak tree that we have found so far was hidden in a corner of field behind Bickerdikes Garden Centre. It is difficult to know exactly how old it is while it is still living but to give us an approximate age, we used a method for oak trees which involves measuring the tree’s circumference at about one metre high from ground level and dividing by two. Using this method, we are able to estimate that this tree is in the region of 250 years old.
The tree has witnessed many changes through its life so far. When the tree was originally planted, Letchworth was a small parish with a population of about 67 people. George III was on the throne, William Pitt was prime minister and James Cook departs Plymouth on his first voyage of discovery. The tree has survived two world wars and the growth of Letchworth Garden City into a town of over 30,000 people.
I wonder what it will see in the next 250 years!
