can you make a protest about an ancient tree being cut down?

ronib

Interesting comment Wwm2 but how many broken bones from falling over tree roots equals biodiversity? Or even more inexplicably, human deaths from having to step into the road at a very precarious position? Plus of course the very real hazard of falling trees onto both motorists and households?

I think I'd like to see statistics of the 000s (?) with broken bones after falling over tree roots, it's hardly normal human behaviour. As for death from stepping into the road, if motorists obeyed speed limits and gave way to pedestrians, there would be fewer deaths all round.
I'm glad I won't be here to see the earth paved over and largely unliveable on but I do feel sorry for today's children.

Deaths caused by falling trees as supplied by the ONS for England and Wales 2013 to 2019 were 219 in total.

I can’tbelieve people supporting the destruction of a 500 year old tree which was overgrowing a car park. So parking cars more important than the biological ecosystem. No wonder we have the most nature depleted country in the world. People’s selfishness will lead to the destruction of the planet.

I can’t believe that trees have a higher value than human life. But we all have our unique point of view.

That’s not correct. That’s the total number of deaths in England and Wales registered under a particular code ICD10 Code W20. This covers death from:

cave-in without asphyxiation or suffocation collapse of building, except on fire or falling rock, stone or tree.

ONS say:

Unfortunately, no further breakdown of ICD-10 code W20 is available, so it is not possible to identify how many of these deaths were specifically due to falling trees; they could include deaths as a result of being struck by other things, such as rocks or stones. It is not possible to identify whether the accident occurred at a public or private residence.

An old report from The National Tree Safety Group said that within the UK, there are approximately 6.4 public fatalities per year which are attributable to the falling trees or branches. Of these, 30 per cent, possibly more, occur during episodes of strong wind, suggesting trees themselves, and tree-management regimes, are less culpable than extreme weather.

It would be interesting for a value to be put on the benefit that trees give to the planet.

Invaluable in carbon capture alone. Older trees, like oaks, have been shown to increase wood production in response to elevated CO2 levels, effectively locking in the greenhouse gas. The butchered oak at Whitewebbs is only 500 metres from the M25.

stag headed oak trees, with big deadbanches can live for another 100 years or more.

This tree wasn’t a threat to human life. It was more important than the leaves making a mess of the car park in a third rate restaurant.

I was rather surprised caleo. It's an unusual maple and it looks like it will be staying.
A year or two ago I had a young Ash felled near the maple without considering for a moment it should be protected. It was self seeded and too near a neighbours wall and my back gate.

I'm sure your young oak will be fine.
I'm trying to grow an oak from an acorn. The acorn was collected from beneath the Birnam Oak, near Dunkeld. (Mentioned in Shakespeare) I planted it out on my front lawn 2 years ago. It's still only about 2ft tall with a wire cage to protect it from deer.

Grammaretto

I have submitted plans to build a house in my garden. The planners have replied with a list of objections.
One is that a tree, which I planted, has now to be protected and cannot be felled.
I live in a conservation area and any tree once it reaches a certain height
and girth is automatically protected.

Same here. I have a pine tree overhanging my house that is twice the size of my house. It’s terrifying when the wind blows; although I can’t actually see it myself I know what it looks like. There is a loose branch on it and I’m concerned that it could crash down onto my driveway. The farmer tells me to get a tree surgeon out to remove it as he thinks it’s quite firmly wedged in and doesn’t pose a threat.The pigeons roost in it and poo all over my car and the patio. And now the silver birch nearby has reached the size where its seeds cover my garden and are trodden into the house. I love trees but, if I had my time again I would never buy a house next to them. At least all of the sycamore trees were removed by the farmer because he needed some phone lines putting up when he built a property for one of his farm workers in a nearby field.

Sycamores often self seed and grow like weeds. However I knew one cream -variegated sycamore during my childhood and have never forgotten it.

MayBe, I understand the Scots pine generally is a well -rooted tree with secure branches.

Grammaretto, the size increases exponentially. It won't be more than a few years until it's big enough for a small child to climb into it. And by that time the higher branches will not be grazed by deer.

Caleo

MayBe, I understand the Scots pine generally is a well -rooted tree with secure branches.

It’s certainly well rooted because the roots are lifting up my driveway!

What's the matter with that? Is the car's suspension complaining?

Caleo

What's the matter with that? Is the car's suspension complaining?

The bricks are lifting and crumbling. It’s a trip hazard. The very same roots are probably doing the same to the foundations of my house. If you lived in my house and saw that tree towering over it and swaying in the sort of violent winds we now have I think you’d be as worried as me. A house would not be allowed to be built that close to a tree that size now. It’s going to cause a problem if and when I have to downsize. As for the chassis of my car I’ve just paid £2,000 to have it repaired. And I have to scrape moss off it on a regular basis because of it being in permanent damp shade.

We had two Scots Pine trees at the front of our driveway, our insurance company advised us to get them removed, so that’s what we did.

Yes, MayBe.I understand. Everything is relative, a matter of degree.

Granny Gravy,

I am really sorry to read your story. Prudence sometimes cannot coexist with beauty.

GrannyGravy13

We had two Scots Pine trees at the front of our driveway, our insurance company advised us to get them removed, so that’s what we did.

It’s a conservation area and I’m not allowed to touch the tree in any way without permission. I need to get some of the branches removed because all the weight of the tree is on one side and that is the side that overhangs my house. My neighbours chimney crashed through his house many years ago: it could have killed him. The branches of the tree are very close to my chimney albeit not quite touching it. When the farmer removed a sycamore tree that was next to my garden he made me pay towards it. I was once refused insurance for my house because of the tree but switched to another company. I do worry that they would refuse to pay up if anything happened which is why I include legal cover in my policy. They were quite unpleasant when I made a claim due to a lightning strike: the first claim I’d ever made in nearly fifty years!

I try to pretend it’s not there!

That really hits home, so many of these majestic old trees are silent witnesses to generations of life, memories, and change. What a loss, not just in beauty but in cultural and ecological value.

The sad thing is, when a tree like that is gone, it takes with it decades, sometimes centuries, of natural history. Horse chestnuts, especially, are more than ornamental; they support pollinators when in bloom, and their conkers have been part of countless childhoods. It’s not just a tree being cut down, it’s a living part of a community being erased.

That’s why stories like yours matter. They remind us how vital Tree Preservation Orders are, not only for safety concerns but for recognizing the emotional and environmental importance of these landmarks. A healthy, well-loved tree like that deserved to be protected, not just evaluated on risk, but on meaning.

Hopefully, your memory of it can spark more awareness and action in others before we lose more like it.

MayBee70

GrannyGravy13

We had two Scots Pine trees at the front of our driveway, our insurance company advised us to get them removed, so that’s what we did.

It’s a conservation area and I’m not allowed to touch the tree in any way without permission. I need to get some of the branches removed because all the weight of the tree is on one side and that is the side that overhangs my house. My neighbours chimney crashed through his house many years ago: it could have killed him. The branches of the tree are very close to my chimney albeit not quite touching it. When the farmer removed a sycamore tree that was next to my garden he made me pay towards it. I was once refused insurance for my house because of the tree but switched to another company. I do worry that they would refuse to pay up if anything happened which is why I include legal cover in my policy. They were quite unpleasant when I made a claim due to a lightning strike: the first claim I’d ever made in nearly fifty years!

When the farmer removed a sycamore tree that was next to my garden he made me pay towards it.
He was bullying you, you should not have had to psy, Msybee.

This used to be a conservation area until fairly recently but the only trees with preservation orders on them were ones which were there before the houses were built; any put in by the builder or subsequently did not.
You could ask the Tree Officer at your County Council to come to look at it to see if it's safe. Is it on the farmer's land?

Allira

MayBee70

GrannyGravy13

We had two Scots Pine trees at the front of our driveway, our insurance company advised us to get them removed, so that’s what we did.

It’s a conservation area and I’m not allowed to touch the tree in any way without permission. I need to get some of the branches removed because all the weight of the tree is on one side and that is the side that overhangs my house. My neighbours chimney crashed through his house many years ago: it could have killed him. The branches of the tree are very close to my chimney albeit not quite touching it. When the farmer removed a sycamore tree that was next to my garden he made me pay towards it. I was once refused insurance for my house because of the tree but switched to another company. I do worry that they would refuse to pay up if anything happened which is why I include legal cover in my policy. They were quite unpleasant when I made a claim due to a lightning strike: the first claim I’d ever made in nearly fifty years!

When the farmer removed a sycamore tree that was next to my garden he made me pay towards it.
He was bullying you, you should not have had to psy, Msybee.

This used to be a conservation area until fairly recently but the only trees with preservation orders on them were ones which were there before the houses were built; any put in by the builder or subsequently did not.
You could ask the Tree Officer at your County Council to come to look at it to see if it's safe. Is it on the farmer's land?

The fire brigade came round about something else (they fitted a new smoke alarm for me) and checked the tree out and said it looked ok. When I showed the broken branch to the farmer I knew that he had people working on some of the trees on his land at the time but he still didn’t offer to ask them to remove it. It’s just the sheer size of it and it sways so much in the wind. I saw the damage to property that fallen trees did during Storm Alma. It was heartbreaking to see so many trees down though.