The UK and Ireland was battered by storm Arwen at the end of December, lives were lost and property took a hammering. The gale force winds took a heavy toll on trees across the country, the National Trust have posted details of the damage their estates have suffered, including ‘some of the most exceptional specimens in the charity’s care’.
The Trust was particularly badly hit in a swathe extending across the north of England and Wales, taking down over 50 trees at Bodnant Garden in North Wales, at Wallington, in Northumberland, over half of a ‘generation’ of veteran trees were lost, their properties in the Lake District have lost hundreds of trees. The Trust estimate the restoration will likely cost them at least £3million.
The Trust is asking supporters to donate what they can to its Woodlands fundraising appeal to help with restoration now and in the future: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/woodlands-appeal.
In Northern Ireland the iconic avenue of beech trees known as the Dark Hedges, made famous in many TV and movies, such as Game Of Thrones, suffered several losses. Some of the trees were estimated to be up to 300 years old.
Paralells can be drawn to the gales of 1987 that took out thousands of trees across the UK. Many lessons were learnt from that which will hopefully be taken into consideration here, one of which was to resist the urge to run and clean up every fallen trunk and branch. The benefit to the ecosystem of letting fallen timber rot down is far higher than carting it away to flog as firewood.
The header picture shows trees damaged by storm Arwen at Bodnant. Pic source: National Trust
