This event is a new date as the speaker was ill in June and had to postpone. All those who bought tickets then have been notified and don’t need to rebook. Note – that event was fully booked. We expect cancellations (as some won’t be able to make the new date) so for the moment email events@fiveleaves.co.uk to register your interest.

One of a series of August nature talks

Enter a parallel wooded universe

Britain has long had a deep-rooted love for trees, woven into its history, culture, and landscapes. From ancient oaks that have stood as silent witnesses to history to the carefully tended forests that shape our countryside, trees hold a special place in the nations heart, as emphasized by the recent loss of the Sycamore Gap tree. Yet most of us walk past trees every day without a second thought—but what if there were unknown, ancient trees hidden across the UK that no one talks about?

Over the past five years Paul Wood has travelled over 30,000 miles around the UK tracking down and documenting a thousand of Britain’s most remarkable trees—some as old as Stonehenge, others tied to legends and historic events yet barely known outside of small local circles. He’s recorded these trees in his new book Tree Hunting.

The book includes hundreds of unknown stories, including trees with hidden literary, scientific or political histories. These include the Fortingall Yew in Perthshire – the oldest tree in the UK or Ireland, and the subject of a legend that Pontius Pilate was born near the tree and would have played beneath it as an infant, or the Moseley Bog Oak in Birmingham, which is said to be the inspiration for the Ent, or ‘Shepherds of the Trees’ in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit.

Nottingham is listed as a Tree City in the book – with a number of local trees that Paul will explore in this illustrated talk

A constant explorer of cities and the irrepressible, boisterous nature they support, Paul Wood is the author of several books, including London is a Forest. He has been fascinated by trees ever since he noticed a beech seedling unfurling in his back garden as a child. He lives in London under the canopy of a pair of Victorian plane trees.

In association with the Woodland Trust

Refreshments included