This will be something well known to everyone Im sure, but it is something Ive seen bits of previously, but not noticed its whole before, the magnificent avenue of giant redwoods (Sequoiadendron giganteum) in Heatherside. Decided to atone for my denseness by doing the usual brief bit of research,, and to go and take a few pics along the avenue, and report back to the group. I think this subject has cropped up before, but Ill do a quick run through. The trees were planted in 1865 by a local nursery man, Frederick Street (1836ish-1906) for the owner of Heatherside House, and founder of Heatherside Nurseries Company, Augustus Mongredien. Augustus was born in London in 1807 to French parents, he was a corn merchant by trade, and a big name in the chess world in England. He wrote several books, on economics and also botanical subjects. The avenue itself is an amazing sight, planted not long after the introduction of the Wellingtonia to these isles in the 1850s, making these among the oldest of their type in the UK, if only mere babies still by redwood standards. There are still well over 200 of the huge trees still standing, with only a few big gaps (most notably in the recreation grounds. From the walk along, Id guess there were close to 250 trees all told in the original planting. One of the more recent casualties lays near to the path, and has had bench seats cut into the prone trunk, an excellent idea. Trying to count the rings, while trying to maintain a count of the number of trees wed passed was a task beyond me Im afraid :) Theres also evidence of some other remnants of the nurseries around with some beautiful and huge examples nearby. Ive included a shot of my favourite of these in the shots below, in the garden of a house on Wensleydale Drive. Amazing sight, and bigger than most of the redwoods! I spoke briefly with another resident, and he mentioned that he had found the remains of one of the nurseries greenhouses deep under his garden when building an extension. If you havent seen this local landmark up close its well worth a walk up its length, the portion of it that now house Yockley Close is particularly stunning. I didnt get great pics sadly, so will have to go back soon to try again. Looking forward to it!
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 01:53:37 +0000
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