Oaks and more Oaks

“Oak before Ash, in for a Splash,

Ash before Oak, in for a Soak.”

A springtime Folk lore, dating back to ‘more settled weather patterns in the British archipelago’, was there ever such a stage? What we can say in more recent records, the seasons are dishevelled, and the nature is being disrupted. My damson tree has had flowers blooming this October….

The Going Wild in Bishops Castle Project aims to enhance the continuation of a significant population of Oak trees in our town and surrounding landscape. The tree planting project was initiated following the town’s 2023 celebration of the Town Charter, which was granted by Queen Elizabeth I in 1573.

Linking to the long border history of people, place and nature in Bishops Castle is not hard to do. But is wildlife now history and difficult to find?

During Charter week we took short walks around the town and across local farms to look at living things of 400-600 years. These Ancient Oaks are in many parts of this area especially in the Woodbatch area – a batch, a local word to describe a valley. They are found standing in fields, as part of hedges, in modern gardens and mark boundaries between farms.

In the autumn many scatter their acorns on the ground, some will grow, whilst others will provide birds and small mammals a chance to store them for the hard season ahead. Returning to leaf and flowering in the Spring the trees offer shelter to nesting animals, food to insect caterpillars and reward the countryside wanderer with a sense of wellbeing.

The Charter Oak plan aims to plant at least 200 oaks, ensuring that one will survive by the year 2423. We can anticipate that the other 199 trees will not survive grazing, disease, trampling, gale damage, flooding, wood fuel demands and removal of the growing tree to make space for buildings, roads and views.

So far, we have planted or protected 10 saplings and have plans to work with community members to plant another 20 trees locally in 2025. It maybe that we all need to be more determined to be including tree planting as a common place regular task of the countryside. If you’ve planted an oak tree lately, let the project know and if you’d like to join the active group finding places to plant and protect new saplings –

by:

Catherine Murphy November 2025

Contact Dan at goingwild@lightfootenterprises.org to help with this wildlife activity.

Woodland Trust:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/

Tree Council:

https://treecouncil.org.uk/

Ancient Tree Forum:

​https://www.ancienttreeforum.org.uk/​

Caring for Gods Acre – Ancient Trees of Churchyards:

https://www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk/resources/veteran-trees