Gwydh meur a Gernow – Great Trees of Cornwall   

 

Latest events:

Come to the Big Tree Event

31st October 2009

Trelissick Gardens and Parkland, Feock near Truro

10.30 - 4pm:Lectures, tree trails, wood working and other demonstrations in the gardens.

Discover Great trees in the park and Halloween bugs, bats and other great tree wildlife - Families welcome

4-6pm: Celebrate our Great trees and the Poetry Society Centenary with a poetry reading and presentations to competition winners.

Hosted by Poetry Cornwall and the Camelford Poetry Stanza of the Poetry Society.

For further information contactloveday.jenkin@nationaltrust.org.ukor ring 01208 265276 / 07817866105

 

For more details see the final programme here Big Tree Eventfin.pdf

Contacts:

 

Great Trees Project Officer: Loveday Jenkin

 

Great Trees of Cornwall Project

Email: loveday.jenkin@nationaltrust.org.uk

 

Tel. 01208 265276

 

 

Kennels Office

Lanhydrock Park

Bodmin

Cornwall

PL30 4DE

01208 265276

 

Major Project Underway to Safeguard Ancient Trees

 

A major project to safeguard the future of Cornwall’s ancient and significant trees has begun (July 2008). Over the next three years, The Great Trees of Cornwall Project (Gwydh Meur a Gernow) will run a number of special tree related events and work with schools, local groups, conservation organisations and local government to raise awareness of Cornwall's Great Trees and the need to look after them.  With the help of local people, the project will also develop Cornwall's first official record of the ancient, veteran and significant trees - the first step in caring for them.

  

 

Get involved - The Great Tree Hunt

 

Help us hunt for the Great Trees of Cornwall! Why not record your favourite tree as part of the Great Tree Hunt? If you are in Cornwall or the Isles of Scilly, why not get out and about and record your favourite tree or a tree that’s special for its age, history, landscape or spiritual importance. The Hunt involves finding the trees, measuring how big they are around, where they are found and why they are special. Everyone can join in as there are many trees on public land and we are also asking landowners to let us know about Great trees on their land.

 

 

 

If you would like to get involved and take part in Cornwall’s Great Tree Hunt, use our special recording form for Cornwall  0409 Recording form(Final).pdf . If you want to record a tree outside of Cornwall or find out more about where the records are going thenclick here: www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk

 

To find out more about current events and training activities in Cornwall click here: Events and training 09 

You can also find out about previous events at Events and training

 

For agendas and minutes of the Cornwall Ancient Tree Forum and the Great trees project click on the folder: CATF Agendas and Minutes

 

 

 

Background to the Great Trees Project

 

There are more ancient trees in the UK than anywhere else in Northern Europe. As well as being rich habitats for wildlife, Great trees can be important markers of previous land use – indicating early field boundaries, the last vestiges of an ancient deer park, orchard or holy site or incorporated into the gardens of a great estate. Great trees often have interesting stories or family memories attached to them.

 

 

 

Although one of the least wooded counties in Britain, Cornwall is one of the most important for rare lichen and fungi, which thrive on the county’s clean air and ancient trees. Cornwall houses one of the UK’s oldest trees, the Darley Oak, thought to be 1000 years old and also contains a number of historically important, named and dressed trees.  Despite this, experts are concerned that only a small fraction of the great trees in Cornwall have been identified and that many more may be under threat from neglect or unsympathetic management.

 

 

 

Brian Muelaner, Chairman of the Cornwall Ancient Tree Forum and the National Trust's Ancient Tree Advisor says: “This is an exciting project which will help to secure the long term future for Cornwall's most significant trees for future generations. Unfortunately many of the county’s important trees are not protected through any statutory designations and so could be at serious risk. The Great Tree Hunt is essential to help compile an inventory of all the great trees of Cornwall and gain recognition for these iconic landscape features.”

 

 

 

The hunt will be completed in autumn 2010. The findings will be fed into and made available through the Woodland Trust’s ‘Ancient Tree Hunt’ – a national campaign involving thousands of people finding and mapping old and significant trees across the UK. A selection of Cornwall’s best Great Trees will be announced in spring 2011.

 

 

 

The Cornwall Ancient Tree Forum is leading the Great Trees Project, which is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, The National Trust, Cornwall County Council and the Duchy of Cornwall.

 

 

 

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CATFlogo.doc Gwydh Meur a Gernow – Great Trees of Cornwall

Great Trees Project Objectives: 

 

 

Record the existence and distribution of ancient, veteran and significant trees across Cornwall. Enthuse and encourage people to hunt for and look after their local Great trees and maybe even become tree wardens or Great Tree Champions.

 

Partners Information and contact details:

 

 

• Cornwall Ancient Tree Forum is a partnership of tree owners, countryside managers, conservationists and historians. It is set up to study and protect ancient trees in Cornwall. It arranges events, activities and provides information relating to ancient trees. contacts: Colin Hawke, Cornwall County Council on 01872 222000  forestry@cornwall.gov.uk or Brian Muelaner, National Trust on 01208 265235 or email: brian.muelaner@nationaltrust.org.uk

 

 

• Using money raised through the National Lottery, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) sustains and transforms a wide range of heritage for present and future generations to take part in, learn from and enjoy.  From museums, parks and historic places to archaeology, natural environment and cultural traditions, we invest in every part of our diverse heritage.  HLF has supported more than 26,000 projects, allocating over £4 billion across the UK.  This includes over £411 million to more than 2,600 projects across the South West.  Website: www.hlf.org.uk.

 

 

• The Ancient Tree Hunt (the Woodland Trust)The Ancient Tree Hunt (ATH) involves thousands of people in finding and mapping all the fat, old trees across the UK and is right at the heart of the Woodland Trust’s ancient tree conservation work. It will create a comprehensive living database of ancient trees and it’s the first step towards cherishing and caring for them. Contact: www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk