Summer of Hugs

As part of its Ancient Tree Hunt, the Woodland Trust is suggesting a ‘Summer of Hugs’, in order to measure notable trees across the country.
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. Its five-year plan is to find and record 100,000 ancient, veteran and notable trees. So far, the Trust has gathered 17,000 records, all of which are viewable at www.AncientTreeHunt.org.uk.

The database of trees allows site visitors to ‘zoom in’ on their local area and find the locations of notable trees. While some records merely feature a picture and the details of the tree’s location, others include a blog, a list of visitors, and even stories of kings, queens, poets, politicians and painters that have been associated with the tree through history.

Why a ‘Summer of Hugs’? Well, the Woodland Trust suggests hugging as an easy way to measure the girth of old trees. And as we all know, measuring the girth is one way of calculating the age of the tree. A ‘British Standard Hug’ from an adult, with arms outstretched and fingertip-to-fingertip, is about 1.5 metres. A child’s hug is roughly half that measurement. If you prefer a less touchy-feely approach, you can also measure your tree using a tape measure.

Once you’ve got the tree’s measurements, log on to the Ancient Tree Hunt website to register your tree. The results of the Ancient Tree Hunt will help ensure that they are properly cared for and their importance is recognised for centuries to come.