Major Oak

[JonathanD]

Further updates on the Major Oak. As most of you know, after four years of decline, it finally failed to come into leaf this year and was pronounced dead. Something many of us had reported about for the last two years. With denial after denial by the RSPB. It was a bit difficult for them to keep the pretence up and longer. So we got that news in May.

Today they announced that it’s lost one of its main limbs. So if anyone wants to see it before it caves in completely. I’d do so quickly. Many of the limbs are really hollow. And now there’s no living wood to maintain any integrity. This will be a common occurrence over the next few years.



I took this picture in June.

 

[Stew]

Sad to see but it'll still be supporting other life for some years to come. I hope these feature trees help make people think.

 

[Macaroon]

Sad to see but it'll still be supporting other life for some years to come. I hope these feature trees help make people think.

I can only hope your optimism will be justified, making people think seems to become more difficult the longer we try, especially concerning the natural well being of things. I get the impression that AI is making people believe it will think for them; careful what you wish for, people!

 

[Stew]

I hope so to.

When the Sycamore Gap caused such a big outcry, I'm there wondering why they're not crying about the masses of trees chopped down for HS2. (And I did nothing about it.)

 

[Nice65]

Sad to see, but inevitable. Many of our celebrated oldest trees are coming to the end of their days, drought or not. I spend a lot of time and volunteer work in Petworth Park in West Sussex.

The Chestnuts and Oaks are the oldest, 400-600 years, possibly more. The Beeches (shallow rooted), may well be lost after this second year.

Here’s my favourite, The Barrel Oak on the Notable Tree Index. See how the lower canopy is forming naturally. This tree should survive a lot longer as a smaller unit without having to support huge limbs propped up with scaffolding.

The second tree is another tree that was photographed at Knepp, the rewilding project.

 

[Tengu]

Oaks in poor condition often retract leaving stag headed trees, dont they?

No evidence the tree is dying; unlike the top one.

 

[Falstaff]

Don't understand why they were in denial. Everything has a life, and if, as suggested, it's due to visitors compacting the ground, then an early hands off might have given it a chance.
Is there any botanical reason why branches are propped up instead of cut off and new growth encouraged?

 

[Stew]

I visited quite a few years back and you could get nowhere near so I really find the visitor ground compaction quite surprising.

 

[PoppyD]

Don't understand why they were in denial. Everything has a life, and if, as suggested, it's due to visitors compacting the ground, then an early hands off might have given it a chance.
Is there any botanical reason why branches are propped up instead of cut off and new growth encouraged?

They put the fence up in the 1970’s.

Dad made it public in May two years ago that it was dying and encouraged people in a few Robin of Sherwood groups he runs to get and see it as it only has two years. The RSPB found out and then went on a crusade with many news channels including the BBC and said dad was spreading fake news. But it was all true. And he posted the evidence as well. But they still said he was spreading fake news. Right up until April this year. He spends many hours with that tree and it was his and mom’s favourite place. I don’t like the RSPB. They are bullies. They look after birds and that is it. Everything else is bottom of the list. Wasps, hornets and bees. You’re on your own kids.

 

[PoppyD]

I visited quite a few years back and you could get nowhere near so I really find the visitor ground compaction quite surprising.

In 2022 they put massive eight inch long galvanised bolts into the living wood to seal up the entrance with thick steel cables. We were there. And they had power tools inside and you could see the bats evacuating in the morning to get away. The workers destroyed the inside when we went back that evening and looked. Dad went up to the RSPB girl who was with the company hired to do it and complained they were disturbing several species roosts at 11 in the morning. She looked worried and asked if he was from the local bat groups. I can’t remember the whole thing. But they carried on after we left. We counted around 8 bats going to the right of the trees towards the old visitor centre direction from about halfway up. They were using angle grinders actually inside the tree to cut the bolts and cables. It was real noisy. There were brown long eared bats and a bigger species that went high and left too. As well as a small species with shorter ears. Possibly Pips. It was hard to tell them except the long eareds. We thought the large ones might have been noctules.

 

[Nice65]

Oaks in poor condition often retract leaving stag headed trees, dont they?

No evidence the tree is dying; unlike the top one.

The bottom tree is beginning to form its new lower crown. The top one isn’t dying, its bark is covered with tiny dormant buds waiting for enough light to shoot. It has many years of life left.

Here’s one that has lost all its top and is still going.

 

[Nice65]

This is the Arthur Clough Oak, a rare set of pictures of a tree going through different stages of life.

 

[Falstaff]

I've had my own issues with the RSPB, a very funny lot, I have no time for them. I do remember they put up lots of media smokescreens, some of it by RSPB "friends". Good on your dad for having a go.
Crossing over at bridges, I've seen that the HS2 destruction is huge. But unless you used to go there as a walker etc, as per the Sycamore Gap, nobody is aware enough to make a public issue of it.