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10

Oct 2022

Last Updated: 10/10/2022

Autumn events focus on ancient trees in Ripon's Skell Valley

by Tim Flanagan

| 10 Oct, 2022
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Ancient trees, which have been part of the Skell Valley landscape for centuries, will feature in two events in the Ripon area this month.

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This autumn, Ripon's Skell Valley Project is celebrating the numerous ancient trees that can be found throughout the valley.

On October 26, the project team will be holding an Ancient Tree Discovery Day at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, where ancient tree advisor and author Brian Muelaner will be exploring the world of veteran trees.

The family-friendly event will run from 1-4pm and will include a slideshow and talk about the ancient trees of the National Trust and their cultural heritage connections.

This will be followed by a guided walk exploring the spectacular veteran trees of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal.

Attendance is free, but does have to be booked by contacting karen.collins@nationaltrust.org.uk

Before the discovery day, Ripon Arts Hub on Allhallowgate is hosting a book talk on October 21 at Ripon Arts Hub on Allhallowgate.

Running from 7.30pm until 9.30pm, it will feature authors Simon Toomer and Max Adams.

They will be discussing the importance of trees in the landscape and celebrating the wonder of trees. The event is being held in partnership with Little Ripon Bookshop, and tickets are available online or directly from the bookshop. Bookings can be made online by clicking here.

Gabby Crisp, Skell Valley area ranger said:

“Ancient trees are so important in the Skell Valley because of how incredible they are for wildlife and biodiversity.
"Rot holes provide homes for nesting birds, and invertebrates, which are vital to the ecosystem.
"We also consider the beauty and heritage value of our ancient trees. They’ve seen all the changes in the valley over hundreds of years and we need to continue to look after them.
"The Skell Valley is an important place for ancient trees. The designed landscape at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal means that there are lots of surviving ancient trees. There are lots of ancient and oaks and ash living in the valley too.
"Some of these are already suffering from ash dieback and one of the ambitions of the project is to monitor these so that we can plan for resilient future planting.  We’ll be working with volunteers to map and record veteran and ancient trees in the valley, and will be running a number of public events too”