Ron Freethy's Nature Watch

EVERY year at the end of November we have National Tree Week.

Then for the rest of the year what happens? We forget 'em that's what!

A tree is like a dog - it should be for life and not just for Tree Week or Christmas.

In the 1660s at the end of the English Civil War, the country was short of timber, the stock of which had been devastated by a combination of burning down buildings and the need for charcoal to smelt iron for armaments. A diarist and naturalist named John Evelyn wrote in 1666 that we would be better off without gold than without trees. He was right then and he is right today.

I visited the Lake District to see the memorial of John Wilkinson, the 18th century iron master. His monument stands at the crossing of the road from Lancaster, Ulverston and Grange-over Sands at Lindale. He smelted iron which provided the raw material for the Industrial Revolution. He needed timber and many of the ancient woodlands of the Lake District were hacked down, soon to be followed by the destruction of the trees around the small textile villages of East Lancashire. These later grew into such cotton towns as Burnley, Blackburn, Darwen, Accrington and Chorley. It is only recently that we have begun to plant trees again and our environment is much better for it. At first the larch was the popular tree to plant, mainly because it grows fast and also because it does provide shelter. It is, however, not to good for native wildlife but some birds such as the tree creeper do well there. I discovered this as I walked the slopes of Pendle Hill around the Barley area near the Black Moss reservoir.

Larch is an example of a deciduous conifer - it sheds all its leaves at the same time during autumn. It then looks a glorious rusty colour. In the early spring, the larch has tiny but very pretty red blooms and during the early spring the light green leaves look a treat.

Larch was introduced from Europe mainly during the 18th century and, along with oak, it was used in building wooden battleships.

Larch timber tends not to splinter when hit by a cannon or musket ball. At first larch was very expensive and was only used in the officers' quarters.

Next time you look at a tree do not take it for granted.

Find a book and read about its history.

In future articles in Nature Watch I will be describing some of our most interesting native trees.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.