Tree Trail

Tree Trail

Do all trees look the same to you? Can't tell a Beech from a Hornbeam? Can't even tell it from a Chestnut? Then the Lingfield tree trail is for you.

Lingfield Parish Council devised this in late 2002. It consists of a short walk around 25 representative trees in Centenary Fields and Lingfield Wildlife Area. Details of the trail appear in a free leaflet, obtainable from the Lingfield Library and from the Parish Clerk.

The leaflet contains a map showing the route around the trees. It gives a short and lively description of each of them, with a clear illustration of its leaves and fruit. There is also a page of questions about the trees, with the answers shown further on. You can answer all the questions from the leaflet.

Thumbnail version of drawing of Hornbeam catkins, leaves and fruit

Alison Redmond, a local amateur artist, specially drew the illustrations. Here is one of the wonderful images that she produced. It is of Hornbeam and shows its male and female catkins on the left and the leaves and fruit on the right. Click on it for a larger version.

John Cole's Eden River Press printed the leaflet to their usual high standard. (They did an equally fine job on the Lingfield Wildlife Area brochure.) The Heritage Lottery Fund gave a grant to meet production costs. Teachers and pupils from Lingfield Primary School helped in the research. They will be using the trail as part of their schoolwork.

These are the trees on the trail:

1. Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)

2. Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris)

3. English Oak (Quercus robur)

4. Field Maple (Acer campestre)

5. Ash (Fraxinus excelsior)

6. Small-leaved Lime (Tilia cordata)

7. Wild Service Tree (Sorbus torminalis)

8. Goat Willow (Salix caprea)

9. Leopold Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus `Leopoldii')

10. Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus)

11. Quince (Cydonia oblonga)

12. Medlar (Mespilus germanica)

13. Walnut (Juglans regia)

14. Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa)

15. Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum)

16. Aspen (Populus tremula)

17. Norway Maple (Acer platanoides)

18. Beech (Fagus sylvatica)

19. Wych Elm (Ulmus glabra)

20. Hazel (Corylus avellana)

21. Bird Cherry (Prunus padus)

22. Wild Privet* (Ligustrum vulgare)

23. Spindle (Euonymus europaeus)

24. Holly (Ilex aquifolium)

25. Wellingtonia (Sequoiadendron giganteum)

*A shrub but included for its wildlife value

Of these trees, 15 are next to a hard-surfaced path and are thus accessible in a wheelchair. The rest are reached by grassy tracks. They are visible from a wheelchair but from a short distance.

However you travel, the walk will take at least half an hour at a relaxed pace. You can do it a lot quicker if you're fit and energetic, but why rush? Soak up the atmosphere, admire the beauty of the trees, look around you, listen to the birds. In a word, relaaaaax!

On the right is a thumbnail picture of the route of the trail. Click on it for a larger version.

The trail starts at the southern entrance to Lingfield Wildlife Area, in Vicarage Road. See here to see how to get to that.

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