Not many people have heard of John Clayton but most of us have enjoyed his farsighted benevolence even if from a distance. There is a saying that a person is truly generous when they plant a tree that they will never live to see mature. If that is the case then there are few better… Continue reading John Clayton – The man who planted the most famous tree in the world!
Tag: Trees
Remembering the felled tree at Sycamore Gap
I wasn’t sure what I would post today. I have lots of material but some of them are quite in depth and take an hour or three to write and the busy summer tourist season in London shows no sign of ending. Sadly a few days ago something happened in the news that made my… Continue reading Remembering the felled tree at Sycamore Gap
It’s getting hot in London, so let’s plant lots of trees!
Spending all day in London, it’s always been clear to me that it doesn’t just have its own heat-island climate (https://stephenliddell.co.uk/2018/01/27/busting-the-myth-of-london-being-a-rainy-city/) In fact London has multiple different microclimates and I encounter several every day. Some places it is always much warmer than others. Some places seem perpetually cooler and windier and it rains more at… Continue reading It’s getting hot in London, so let’s plant lots of trees!
The Queen’s Green Canopy
Last week when I was out and about in London I passed through the Embankment Gardens as I do quite often. It’s one of the most beautiful parks in Westminster and always full of blooming flowers, well kept lawns, water features and in the summer, much needed shady trees. I’ve written before about London named… Continue reading The Queen’s Green Canopy
New Year, New Rainforest
When people think of rainforests they tend to think of tropical ones such as the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil. Not many people realise that that you can have temperate rainforests and that just as the tropical varieties are currently being cleared by unscrupulous governments and commercial organisations, so to did most of the temperate rainforests… Continue reading New Year, New Rainforest
The Master Oak – The Greatest and Oldest Oak Tree in Middlesex
Following on from my post last week where I visited the old WW2 Pillbox, my walk continued through the Bentley Priory Nature Reserve in NW London. The name Bentley is believed to derive from the Anglo-Saxon word Beonet, which means a place covered in coarse grass, and Leah, a piece of cleared ground on the… Continue reading The Master Oak – The Greatest and Oldest Oak Tree in Middlesex
Walking through a graveyard of giants
I try to go for a walk every day, it adds a bit of routine which is necessary when writing at home in the winter nearly every day. Sometimes I go along the canal, other times through parks and across the countryside along ancient pathways. Many of these areas are currently partially flooded as much… Continue reading Walking through a graveyard of giants
With silver bells and cockleshells
Something amazing has happened this summer. We actually got one! I’ve had a my own house and garden for 5 years and this is the first time that we have actually had a summer. We’ve had 5 or 6 weeks of “hot” weather and another month or two of fine warm weather with just the… Continue reading With silver bells and cockleshells
The Man Who Planted Trees and The Green Wall of Africa
About five years ago, I watched part of a short animated film entitled The Man Who Planted Trees. It is the most lovely short French film (an English version can be viewed here) and it tells the story of a man in an early 20thC European Alpine valley that was desolate and empty of life… Continue reading The Man Who Planted Trees and The Green Wall of Africa
Stephen Liddell 