Day 253 - Ancient Oaks

treebeard

We took a trip out to see a load of old trees, and this old man oak was the king of them all...he's said to be over a thousand years old!

He really does have an entish quality to him - I can quite see him plodding across the hillside, if he so chose...

We were in Staffordshire meeting Anna's folks for lunch, and went for a walk across what used to be an old country estate, to take a look at all these old trees.

There were a number of ancient oaks, all with their own individual character...

an old oak

Some of them look in fine fettle, despite clearly being a shadow of their former selves.

another old oak

I wonder what changes they've seen over the centuries.  The M6 motorway is a scant half a mile away across the fields, and I wonder how the constant air and noise pollution has impacted the trees over the last half century. 

yet another old oak

I hope someone studies this, to perhaps shed a little light on the invisible damage we do when we treat the planet as though it's entirely our right to do with it as we will, disregarding the needs and interests of all other species...

sweet chestnut?

Someone could perhaps examine the rings in a dead portion of this beautiful chestnut...I'm sure he would gladly make a small sacrifice for the betterment of everything else...

Back in his glory days he would have looked a bit like this...

horse chestnut

So, a fine collection of grand old trees...

Also of interest, this beautiful damselfly, that I tracked for a while until he landed...I crept up and managed to find him resting on this leaf...didn't quite get him in focus, but hey, he's another good addition to the species collection!

banded demoiselle

Finally, we were by a lock on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, and Jack here was watching her boat putter into the lock with keen interest.

when the boat comes in

She's a lovely little thing...maybe we'll add someone like her to our pack as the final terrier addition, in a few years time.

I'm really starting to yearn for another dog...I'm not sure we're going to be able to resist much longer now...

Can't wait!

:-)