Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park, Belfast, Sunday 26 September
The Woodland Trust’s Ancient Tree Hunt is heading for Belfast this September. With similar events in London, Glasgow and Cardiff revealing a wealth of ancient trees on city dwellers’ doorsteps, the Trust is now calling for Belfast’s oldest trees to stand up and be counted.
Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park has been chosen as the venue for the Belfast celebration. Hosted by the Woodland Trust and Belfast City Council, nature lovers are invited to discover the beauty of the Park and its treasure trove of ancient trees on Sunday 26 September, from 1 to 5pm.
Children will enjoy games, treasure hunts, and a whole range of crafts. With the help of professional artists, they’ll create creepy-crawlies using natural woodland materials, tree lanterns and tree masks - all free of charge.
And, having heard what the experts have to say, there will be a rare opportunity to listen to the trees! Using headphones suspended from the branch of a tree, artist Alex Metcalf will offer visitors the chance to listen to some internal goings-on: to be more precise the sound of the water moving up through the xylem tubes, just behind the bark.
Patrick Cregg, the Trust’s Northern Ireland director, says: “This really is a special opportunity to explore Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park in its full autumnal glory. You’ll discover some fantastic veteran trees, while youngsters will enjoy a wealth of hands-on creative crafts.
“Our oldest trees rustle with both history and wildlife, yet often lack the recognition they deserve. We want to promote an awareness and appreciation of these unsung treasures. And we’re stressing that our oldest trees could be closer than you think. Urban dwellers don’t necessarily have to head to country estates; simply keep a look out in your nearest park, or even in your street.”
The Woodland Trust’s Ancient Tree Hunt is a five-year project to record at least 100,000 of the UK’s oldest trees by 2011. The website already has records of more than 69,000 ancient, veteran and notable trees, including over 3,000 in Northern Ireland.
The Trust is appealing for volunteer recorders in Northern Ireland to join its tree hunt. Simply visit the Ancient Tree Hunt website, which is packed with tips for tree hunters, including how to recognise an ancient tree, measure its girth and how to identify different species. Find out more and get recording at www.AncientTreeHunt.org.uk
Everyone is welcome on 26 September; but children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Entrance to Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park is via Upper Malone Road. For further details telephone the Trust’s office on 028 9127 5787.
Notes to editors
For media enquiries contact:
Kaye Coates at the Woodland Trust’s Bangor Office on 028 9127 5787; email kayecoates@woodlandtrust.org.uk or
The Woodland Trust Press Office on 01476 581121; email media@woodlandtrust.org.uk
The Woodland Trust:
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 300,000 members and supporters.
The Trust has three key aims: i) to enable the creation of more native woods and places rich in trees ii) to protect native woods, trees and their wildlife for the future iii) to inspire everyone to enjoy and value woods and trees
Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). Access to its sites is free.
Here in Northern Ireland the Woodland Trust cares for 51 woods. These woods contain a mix of recently planted woodland, mature woodland and ancient woodland (that’s land continuously wooded since at least 1600). We have recently produced the first-ever comprehensive record of Northern Ireland’s ancient woodland; find out more at www.backonthemap.org.uk