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Tree wardens gather to inspect county's oldest tree

Wednesday 29th of October 2008

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The oldest tree in the county will be measured when 100 volunteers get together next month.

East Hampshire District Council is holding an event where ‘tree wardens’ from across the region will meet and the highlight of their day will be getting up close to a 3,000-year-old tree.

Wardens are volunteers who help safeguard trees in their area. The scheme was set up by the Tree Council and EHDC was one of the first councils in the country to recruit wardens nearly 20 years ago.

The meeting will take place at the Alton Maltings on November 1 st from 10am until 4pm .

The group will be taken by bus to Farringdon where they will measure a Yew tree which is 3,000 years old.

The beautiful tree is in the churchyard.

The oldest tree in the country is almost 5,000 years old and is growing in Scotland.

Marjorie Harvey, the chairman of EHDC, will be welcoming people to the event.

She said: “I am very pleased that EHDC has been asked to host this year’s Regional Tree Warden Conference.

“I feel that any initiative which encourages the local community to get involved in looking after their environment generally and trees in particular will be of great value and should be encouraged.

“I am looking forward to welcoming the tree Wardens to Alton and hope that they all find it worthwhile.”

Stephen d'Este Hoare, EHDC’s heritage team leader, said: “The conference will provide a great opportunity for Tree Wardens from all over the south east of England to get together and learn about issues of common interest.

“A full programme has been prepared for the day and hopefully all the wardens will find it interesting and useful.

”The event is being held almost 20 years after the tree wardening scheme was first launched in Hampshire at a meeting in Petersfield.

“A number of wardens who attended that day are expected to attend the conference in Alton on Saturday and so the day should be especially significant.”

The East Hampshire Tree Warden Network is part of The Tree Council's UK-wide Tree Warden Scheme, which is run in partnership with National Grid and backed by the government department, Communities and Local Government.

The Tree Council has co-ordinated the scheme nationally and works with local authorities, voluntary organisations, parish councils and local partnerships to set up and develop Tree Warden networks.

Today there are Tree Wardens in communities throughout the UK , devoting a total of over 1.8 million volunteer hours a year to the UK 's trees.