Advertisement

Ancient fallen oak is chopped up

One of Britain's oldest trees, the Pontfadog Oak near Llangollen, was blown down in high winds earlier this year.

View all 7 updates ›

Charity: Not enough done to conserve trees

Welsh woodland charity Coed Cadw says the Pontfadog was the oldest oak tree in Wales, and probably one of the oldest in Northern Europe, said to have grown since 802.

The charity, part of the Woodland Trust, says "we must learn lessons" from the tree collapsing, because it was not adequately protected.

Just last December, Coed Cadw presented a petition, bearing over 5,300 names, to the Welsh Assembly, calling for better protection for our ancient, veteran and heritage trees and in particular, support for the owners of trees in caring for them, just as the owners of listed buildings can receive support in caring for them.

Also last year, a group of experts from the Ancient Tree Forum visited the Pontfadog Oak and put together a list of actions that they believed could help conserve it.

Although the total cost was only £5,700, these actions were never taken as no funding source was available.

– Angharad Evans, Coed Cadw

Moray Simpson, Tree Officer for Wrexham, said "it would be good to try and save the fallen parts of the tree for posterity and to show future generations what we had and what was lost due to the nation not doing enough to save these trees."

  1. Read more
  2. 7 updates
Ancient fallen oak is chopped up

More top news