6 ms·

UK's Ancient Tree Inventory

89 points by thinkingemote 1y ago

Alex_001 1y ago
[dead]
conorjh 1y ago
[flagged]
pjc50 1y ago
Archive.org link since it's already creaking a bit: https://web.archive.org/web/20250403094724/https://ati.woodlandtrust.org.uk/ https://web.archive.org/web/20250403094724/https://ati.woodl... Most interesting examples are at https://web.archive.org/web/20240112222212/https://ati.woodlandtrust.org.uk/what-we-record-and-why/what-we-record/oldest-trees-in-uk/ https://web.archive.org/web/20240112222212/https://ati.woodl... and https://web.archive.org/web/20210926031301/https://ati.woodlandtrust.org.uk/what-we-record-and-why/what-we-record/where-to-find-ancient-trees/ https://web.archive.org/web/20210926031301/https://ati.woodl...
Namari 1y ago
Good idea, though it's failing to load when you point to another city than the one that was loaded automatically
JimDabell 1y ago
If you like this, you might also like OpenTrees.org: > OpenTrees.org is the world's largest database of municipal street and park trees, produced by harvesting open data from dozens of different sources. — https://opentrees.org/ https://opentrees.org/
- hermitcrab 1y ago
  opentrees.org seems to have very little data on the UK.
- keepamovin 1y ago
  Cool! I like how the official UK site in the OP avoids having a stuffy generic name and just goes with "Ancient". I guess this is like Java-speak for picking BritishBuild over UKExcludingNITreeFactoryConstructorPattern
- Lio 1y ago
  For fans of Giant Redwoods in the UK there is also https://www.redwoodworld.co.uk/locations.htm https://www.redwoodworld.co.uk/locations.htm
  - thinkingemote 1y ago
    One of my favourite websites ever. I love how it's well defined. There are literally no redwoods in the UK before people went to America and even so, the giant species are still in their adolescent stage!
- RetroTechie 1y ago
  https://www.monumentaltrees.com https://www.monumentaltrees.com
ta1243 1y ago
The Sycamore Gap tree was only about 150 years old. Sure it was striking given the position, but the outrage over it seems to be somewhat overexagerated. Compare far less outrage when a restaurant chain chopped down a 500 year old tree. Where are the nationwide discussions about whether the CEO or branch manager (heh) or whatever should be going to prison for 5 years or 10 years.
- graemep 1y ago
  Negligence vs clear criminal intent.
  - mytailorisrich 1y ago
    As far as I understand, that restaurant cut down a tree that wasn't theirs without contacting the owner (the local Council). Any individuals doing the same would have been charged with criminal damage. Their apology and claim of "health and safety grounds" are rubbish in my opinion.
    - amiga386 1y ago
      The restaurant conducted a safety review of its premises and the surrounding area, which it is legally required to. Even if it doesn't own the land, it is responisible for making sure it is a safe place for staff and customers. This tree overlooked their car park, and if it had fallen or its limbs broke off, could easily crush, maim or kill people. They relied on a specialist contractor to tell them whether all the trees in the vicinity were safe. The restaurant is legally required to mitigate hazards. The (unnamed) specialist contractor said this particular tree wasn't safe due to dead and splitting wood. While the tree is in this legally-non-binding inventory of ancient trees, it was not subject to any specific tree protection order at the time the contractor gave the advice. The restaurant took the contractor's advice and asked them to make it safe, which involved dismembering most of it. Only then did someone who actually cares about trees, and doesn't just see them as a box-ticking exercise or a way to make or save money, learn that this was happening and raise a fuss about it. And now the tree has a tree preservation order, after being hacked to bits. It could have had a tree preservation order at any time in the past, but it didn't. If it did have one, the specialist contractor would have known, and would have advised the restaurant differently. There aren't any specific villianous individuals anywhere in this story. This is a systematic problem, which is why tree heritage groups are campaigning for a law that protects ancient trees just for being ancient. The way you fight the mundane evil that is bureaucracy is you add more bureaucracy; add in more restrictions on what companies, councils, governments can legally do. Otherwise this happens, and so does this: * https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/06/sheffield-city-council-behaved-dishonestly-in-street-trees-row-inquiry-finds https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/06/sheffield-ci... * https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-64961358 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-64961358
metalman 1y ago
there was an(old old) tree, and surounding medow destroyed for a roundabout(recent), not just any tree, but one with a literary conection, the authors name escapes me, the house of the author is part of the councils holdings, as was the tree and medow, but, famously, as per another author, "but roundabouts must be built", england somewhere , last 3-4 years
hermitcrab 1y ago
Brilliant resource. I'm not sure about the word 'inventory' though. Wikipedia says: "a quantity of the goods and materials that a business holds for the ultimate goal of resale, production or utilisation" I hope that ancient trees are more than that.
- RetroTechie 1y ago
  Wiktionary: 2. A detailed list of all of the items on hand. 3. The process of producing or updating such a list. From Latin "inveniō" ("to find out")
whywhywhywhy 1y ago
love the idea and the data but the map just being kinda broken ruins this, the markers disappear when you zoom in, doesn't show the image of the tree when you click on it. if you were trying to find interesting trees to visit with this in a browsing way it would be tedious.
- hermitcrab 1y ago
  It is perhaps just a bit overloaded from the HN attention.
dang 1y ago
Related: Ancient Tree Inventory - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38318132 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38318132 - Nov 2023 (11 comments)
_rpxpx 1y ago
Thanks for posting. It's so good to see this sort of stuff on Hacker News - so good to see other programmers who care about trees and the natural world. I just found out about a giant redwood in a Victorian park very close to where I grew up that I never knew about.

89 points by thinkingemote 1y ago

Alex_001 1y ago

[dead]

conorjh 1y ago

[flagged]

pjc50 1y ago

Archive.org link since it's already creaking a bit: https://web.archive.org/web/20250403094724/https://ati.woodlandtrust.org.uk/ https://web.archive.org/web/20250403094724/https://ati.woodl... Most interesting examples are at https://web.archive.org/web/20240112222212/https://ati.woodlandtrust.org.uk/what-we-record-and-why/what-we-record/oldest-trees-in-uk/ https://web.archive.org/web/20240112222212/https://ati.woodl... and https://web.archive.org/web/20210926031301/https://ati.woodlandtrust.org.uk/what-we-record-and-why/what-we-record/where-to-find-ancient-trees/ https://web.archive.org/web/20210926031301/https://ati.woodl...

Namari 1y ago

Good idea, though it's failing to load when you point to another city than the one that was loaded automatically

JimDabell 1y ago

If you like this, you might also like OpenTrees.org: > OpenTrees.org is the world's largest database of municipal street and park trees, produced by harvesting open data from dozens of different sources. — https://opentrees.org/ https://opentrees.org/

hermitcrab 1y ago
opentrees.org seems to have very little data on the UK.
keepamovin 1y ago
Cool! I like how the official UK site in the OP avoids having a stuffy generic name and just goes with "Ancient". I guess this is like Java-speak for picking BritishBuild over UKExcludingNITreeFactoryConstructorPattern
Lio 1y ago
For fans of Giant Redwoods in the UK there is also https://www.redwoodworld.co.uk/locations.htm https://www.redwoodworld.co.uk/locations.htm
- thinkingemote 1y ago
  One of my favourite websites ever. I love how it's well defined. There are literally no redwoods in the UK before people went to America and even so, the giant species are still in their adolescent stage!
RetroTechie 1y ago
https://www.monumentaltrees.com https://www.monumentaltrees.com

ta1243 1y ago

The Sycamore Gap tree was only about 150 years old. Sure it was striking given the position, but the outrage over it seems to be somewhat overexagerated. Compare far less outrage when a restaurant chain chopped down a 500 year old tree. Where are the nationwide discussions about whether the CEO or branch manager (heh) or whatever should be going to prison for 5 years or 10 years.

graemep 1y ago
Negligence vs clear criminal intent.
- mytailorisrich 1y ago
  As far as I understand, that restaurant cut down a tree that wasn't theirs without contacting the owner (the local Council). Any individuals doing the same would have been charged with criminal damage. Their apology and claim of "health and safety grounds" are rubbish in my opinion.
  - amiga386 1y ago
    The restaurant conducted a safety review of its premises and the surrounding area, which it is legally required to. Even if it doesn't own the land, it is responisible for making sure it is a safe place for staff and customers. This tree overlooked their car park, and if it had fallen or its limbs broke off, could easily crush, maim or kill people. They relied on a specialist contractor to tell them whether all the trees in the vicinity were safe. The restaurant is legally required to mitigate hazards. The (unnamed) specialist contractor said this particular tree wasn't safe due to dead and splitting wood. While the tree is in this legally-non-binding inventory of ancient trees, it was not subject to any specific tree protection order at the time the contractor gave the advice. The restaurant took the contractor's advice and asked them to make it safe, which involved dismembering most of it. Only then did someone who actually cares about trees, and doesn't just see them as a box-ticking exercise or a way to make or save money, learn that this was happening and raise a fuss about it. And now the tree has a tree preservation order, after being hacked to bits. It could have had a tree preservation order at any time in the past, but it didn't. If it did have one, the specialist contractor would have known, and would have advised the restaurant differently. There aren't any specific villianous individuals anywhere in this story. This is a systematic problem, which is why tree heritage groups are campaigning for a law that protects ancient trees just for being ancient. The way you fight the mundane evil that is bureaucracy is you add more bureaucracy; add in more restrictions on what companies, councils, governments can legally do. Otherwise this happens, and so does this: * https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/06/sheffield-city-council-behaved-dishonestly-in-street-trees-row-inquiry-finds https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/06/sheffield-ci... * https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-64961358 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-64961358

metalman 1y ago

there was an(old old) tree, and surounding medow destroyed for a roundabout(recent), not just any tree, but one with a literary conection, the authors name escapes me, the house of the author is part of the councils holdings, as was the tree and medow, but, famously, as per another author, "but roundabouts must be built", england somewhere , last 3-4 years

hermitcrab 1y ago

Brilliant resource. I'm not sure about the word 'inventory' though. Wikipedia says: "a quantity of the goods and materials that a business holds for the ultimate goal of resale, production or utilisation" I hope that ancient trees are more than that.

RetroTechie 1y ago
Wiktionary: 2. A detailed list of all of the items on hand. 3. The process of producing or updating such a list. From Latin "inveniō" ("to find out")

whywhywhywhy 1y ago

love the idea and the data but the map just being kinda broken ruins this, the markers disappear when you zoom in, doesn't show the image of the tree when you click on it. if you were trying to find interesting trees to visit with this in a browsing way it would be tedious.

hermitcrab 1y ago
It is perhaps just a bit overloaded from the HN attention.

dang 1y ago

Related: Ancient Tree Inventory - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38318132 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38318132 - Nov 2023 (11 comments)

_rpxpx 1y ago

Thanks for posting. It's so good to see this sort of stuff on Hacker News - so good to see other programmers who care about trees and the natural world. I just found out about a giant redwood in a Victorian park very close to where I grew up that I never knew about.