Henley-on-Thames - Windmill House (Oxfordshire)

Giant Redwood - June 2020

Giant Redwood - June 2020

Thanks to Trish who wrote to tell us about her own Wellingtonia tree which used to be part of the Friar Park estate just over the road. She wrote "There’s a similar specimen over there, and another of about the same size on Gravel Hill, the main road from here into Henley town centre. Our tree is 30m tall, as measured by a drone. It’s much used by ravens, tawny owls, and red kites. We’ve nicknamed it The Admiral, partly in homage to General Sherman and all, and partly because one of my ancestors, who lived not far from here, was an admiral. You’ll see from the attached photos of our tree that there’s a tree house/deck below the first branches. That was already in situ when we moved here, and our tree surgeon has assured us that it will do no harm." The tree house/deck is quite novel in that I had not yet come across one that has been built around a Redwood tree. It's nice to hear that it's being used by local bird life and I like the name you've given it! It's interesting that you measured the height of your tree with a drone, this idea had never occured to me until someone wrote in a month or two back, suggesting it was a method he might use to measure his trees. I expect this method will grow in popularity in coming years.