Gale damages tree on Lower Green

The Poplar is awaiting the attention of a tree surgeon.

Felsham's roadside reserve June update

The verge is looking superb and very verdant after all the recent rain.

The ox-eyed daisies, pyramidal orchids and sulphur clover are all struggling to make a showing among the tall grasses.

The sulphur clover has never looked better.

The pyramidal orchids vary vastly in size but are quite prolific.

The dog-roses are thriving in the hedge that borders the verge even though they are facing north.

(photos taken with mobile phone 2 mega pixels only)

The Fallen Elm by JOHN CLARE

"Old elm that murmured in our chimney top
The sweetest anthem autumn ever made
And into mellow whispering calms would drop
When showers fell on thy many coloured shade
And when dark tempests mimic thunder made -
While darkness came as it would strangle light
With the black tempest of a winter night
That rocked thee like a cradle in thy root -
How did I love to hear the winds upbraid
Thy strength without - while all within was mute.
It seasoned comfort to our hearts' desire,
We felt that kind protection like a friend
And edged our chairs up closer to the fire,
Enjoying comfort that was never penned.
Old favourite tree, thou'st seen time's changes lower,
Though change till now did never injure thee;
For time beheld thee as her sacred dower
And nature claimed thee her domestic tree.
Storms came and shook thee many a weary hour,
Yet stedfast to thy home thy roots have been;
Summers of thirst parched round thy homely bower
Till earth grew iron - still thy leaves were green.
The children sought thee in thy summer shade
And made their playhouse rings of stick and stone;
The mavis sang and felt himself alone
While in thy leaves his early nest was made,
And I did feel his happiness mine own..."

John Clare goes on to describe how the old Elm tree was cut down to make place for enclosures:

"Self-interest saw thee stand in freedoms ways...
With axe at root he felled thee to the ground
& barked of freedom - O I hate the sound..."

John Constable, 'Study of the Trunk of an Elm Tree', oil painting, about 1821. V&A Museum no. 786-1888

John Constable (1776-1837)
'Study of the Trunk of an Elm Tree'
Oil painting
England
About 1821
Oil on canvas
Museum no. 786-1888

Felsham's roadside nature reserve

I have featured this tiny remnant of flower-rich verge on the WALKER'S GUIDE TO FELSHAM but I have not mentioned the tall hedge and hedgerow trees that provide a protective background to this wildflower sanctuary.

The familiar hedgerow plants - hazel, maple, hawthorn, elder - can all be seen, while ash predominates among the hedgerow trees that line the southern border.  The most interesting tree, though not particularly imposing, is a fine specimen of large-leaved lime.

List of plant specimens in the hedge on this site:

• Ash
• Blackberry
• Blackthorn
• Dog rose
• Dogwood
• Hawthorn
• Hazel
• Maple
• Traveller's Joy

The Green Oak Centre at Bradfield opens

We visited the new centre the Wednesday evening after the official opening. It was tranquil and light. The centre is so well built and positioned. Excellent. A few photos taken on my mobile phone:

More pics and SWT commentary at the blog of Suffolk Wildlife Trust's Property & Projects Manager - Steve Aylward.

And the EADT has good coverage about the builder of the centre on its digital edition of EAEnvironment supplement:

Changing farmland landscapes 1870-1950

In "THE COUNTRYSIDE OF EAST ANGLIA: CHANGING LANDSCAPES, 1870-1950", 2008, Susanna Martins and Tom Williamson, discuss the fate of farmland trees during the depression years of the 1930s and whether the number of hedgerow trees increased or decreased during this time:

"In theory it should be possible to throw some quantitative light on this question by comparing the numbers of hedgerow trees shown on the OS 6-inch maps surveyed in the 1880s and 90s, with those appearing on the RAF vertical air photographs of 1946. But in practice such a procedure is fraught with difficulties. The Ordnance Survey did not record every farmland tree — partly because the scale of the maps precluded the depiction of more than one specimen per fifteen metres or so of hedge line, and partly because the instructions given to the surveyors meant that trees with girths of less than 60 cm were omitted anyway. And even when the quality of the RAF photographs is sufficient to the task, it is not easy to accurately count trees in densely packed hedgerows, or to ascertain the size of the smaller trees shown. Nevertheless, when used with sensible caution these two sources can provide some indication, at the very least, of whether the number of farmland trees increased, or decreased, in this period: and by roughly what percentage.

……….

In spite of difficulties of interpretation and comparison, the 1946 aerial photographs confirm the impression of contemporary commentators. Rather than increasing, the density of farmland trees, principally growing in hedgerows, declined considerably during the depression period, although with marked variations from district to district. On the claylands, the decrease varied in sample kilometers squares from 5% to as much as 50 per cent, and averaged around 30%. … "[pp.124-125]

It would be interesting to apply their methodology to our study of trees in Felsham.

Do we have any Felsham photographs of the inter-war landscape and farmland with hedges and trees?

Felsham's farmland trees: Introduction

Although Felsham may not have the extensive woodland of neighbouring parishes such as Bradfield St George, Cockfield and Brettenham, it does possess many valuable trees of hedgerow and farmland. Hedgerows and trees provide a key refuge for wildlife in our intensively farmed parish and provide links for movement between gardens, meadows and woodland coppices. Even isolated trees in fields will support a variety of species but they are vulnerable to close ploughing. They may be particularly important for some bats, birds and insects. Dead trees are also valuable wildlife habitats.

How many farmland trees are there? How does the total compare with a hundred years ago? Do we need to plant more trees? These are all questions that the FELSHAM TREE GROUP hopes to answer. The initial task is to count all farmland trees in the parish using the km grid system on OS maps to organise the work. The second task is to estimate the number of farmland trees that grew in the parish over a 100 years ago. This can be done using the 1st edition of the OS map for Felsham surveyed in 1895. If you would like to help with this project please contact us via the Comments section.



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Click to enlarge