Blaisdon - Ley Park (Gloucestershire)

What a huge surprise during a stroll in the wooded plantations of Ley Park. At least 1,000 Coast Redwood are growing here. The largest girth I found was 3.1 metres. Some research later into the origin of theses trees suggests that the wood was bought in a run down condition and restored by Major Charles Ackers in 1937. He was also responsible for buying the woodland at Leighton in 1931, where he planted many Coast Redwood. According to Cotswold Life he introduced ants to the woods to provide aphid control. One point of interest is the number of clumps of small Coast Redwood of about 8 feet tall. On closer inspection it became apparent that these were clusters of about a dozen or so young trees sprouting in a circle around the outer edge of the stump of a Coast Redwood that had been removed, perhaps as a thinning exercise. This has been noticed before on the huge ancient Redwood trees in California that were felled a century or so back by loggers but obviously on a much larger scale. Co-ordinates for three corners of the plantation are N51.85601 W2.41311, N51.85605 W2.41520 and N51.85725 W2.41494