118. Paxton’s Perfect Park Tree
A fine old oak in Birkenhead is a feature of one of Britain’s finest park landscapes, an urban public park that is.
Several parks vie for the title of Britain’s oldest public park (a label complicated by definitions and dates), but Birkenhead Park, opened in 1847, has a strong claim. It is certainly one of the finest public parks anywhere, and even inspired New York’s Central Park. Laid out by Joseph Paxton of Crystal Palace fame, it is now a mature tree-filled landscape. A pedunculate oak, likely an original, has attained a superb shape on Cannon Hill.
Species details
Pedunculate oak
Quercus robur
Where to find it
Park Drive, Birkenhead CH41 8AU
///finishing.switch.clear | 53.391912, -3.045309
Oak news
Oaks are having a moment it seems. This year’s Woodland Trust Tree of the Year shortlist is an entirely quercine affair with a dozen old oaks lining up. Most are stately old trees protected by fences, cared for by landed custodians and loved by thousands of visiting humans. One stands out for me though: the Darwin Oak at Shrewsbury. It is a veteran under threat from reckless road building, and needs all the help it can get to save it from the chop.
More oak news
Next Saturday I will be speaking about oaks in Coventry, if you’re in the area, do come and say hi!
Acorn Event - Sat 14 Sept 2-3.30pm, Coventry Cathedral
A participative event on the cathedral lawn. In June 1968, John Lennon and Yoko Ono launched ‘Acorns for Peace’ on the grounds of Coventry Cathedral. Alongside trees planted in 2005 by Yoko, their global planetary intervention, will be situated by specialists in music, art and ecologies.
Facilitated by Nirmal Puwar (Co-Director of the Centre for Feminist Research at Goldsmiths), I’ll be speaking alongside Pete Chambers (Coventry Music Museum) and Ros Gray (Co-Director of the Centre for Art and Ecology at Goldsmiths).
The event is organised with the Food Union Harvest Festival and Heritage Week.
For a second I was surprised by how recent that year of the oldest public park was and then I remembered that most parks in Britain weren't public to begin with!
As I read about this peaceful serene tree, my imagination summoned up a tune, Hearts of Oak and also the Birkenhead drill, Strange to think of war and the sea in a city park. Some things are not forgotten,though the serene trees ignore human tumults. Perhaps that's why we love them so. I wonder if trees themselves have memories? I certainly wouldn't put it past them.