Brighton - Withdean Park (Sussex)

Travelling south on the A23, two miles before Brighton town centre, a rare sight comes into view; a young Wellingtonia. Although it is already quite tall, it must be something in the order of just 30 or so years old - a mere baby by Giant Redwood standards. It stands in Withdean Park, perhaps a little crowded by surrounding trees. This is not too much of a problem at the moment (it just makes photography a little awkward) but in years to come it might spoil the overall shape of the tree as it matures. Nearby is a Dawn Redwood of roughly the same age. The pictures were taken in early March, and being a deciduous conifer the Dawn Redwood has no foliage this time of year. Notice the clean overall conical shape, the incredibly straight, tapering trunk, and the way the branches sweep elegantly upward toward the ends. These are the classic characteristics of the Dawn Redwood, making them relatively easy to recognise from a distance. It may look rather bare at the moment but in a few more months this tree will have its fresh, bright green foliage on display.

Thanks to Jerry who has found a number of new trees in the Brighton area and beyond. He sent the above photographs of the Dawn Redwood in Withdean Park "in it's new spring foliage, and one of the Dawn sapling planted this year. As you can see, it is already starting to go orange." It is good to see the Dawn with its foliage and it is also great to see that Brighton Council has planted another of these lovely trees in the park.

Josh sent the above photographs taken of the Redwoods in Withdean Park. He is "a 19 year old Law student living in central Brighton. I've always been mildly interested in redwoods due to their sheer size and general majesty. Anyways, I stumbled across your (wonderful!) site and it made me much more curious about these amazing trees! I saw the picture of the trees that you took in Withdean park and went, with my camera, to have a look at them." Thanks Josh and I am pleased to hear that Redwood World is encouraging people to search out Redwoods in their locality. (There is something very devilish about the Dawn cone in the above picture!)

Common Names and Latin Name	No.	Latitude and Longitude		OS National Grid	Elevation (above sea-level)	Height	Girth	Date Measured
		WGS84	OSGB36
Giant Redwood, Wellingtonia Sequoiadendron giganteum	1	N50.85421 W0.15421	N50.85362 W0.15263	TQ 30019 07700	119ft 36.3(m)	16.2m	2.2m	March 2006
Dawn Redwood Metasequoia glyptostroboides	2	N50.85405 W0.15389	N50.85346 W0.15231	TQ 30042 07682	127ft 38.7(m)	15.4m	1.64m	March 2006
	3	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Girth was measured at 1.5m from ground.