Cumbria is now officially home to England’s tallest Great Fir.
Taller than Nelson’s Column in London, the tree, in Ambleside, has had a growth spurt and has overtaken the previous record-holder in County Durham. It is also Cumbria’s tallest tree.
The National Trust remeasured the Great Fir, which stands in Skelghyll Woods, an ancient semi-natural oak coppiced woodland. When it was last measured 12 years ago, the tree was 57.8 metres.
Almost 200 years old, it is now 59.7m.
Will Hicks, a local qualified arborist and William Steele used ropes to climb to the top of the tree. From there a direct tape drop was sent to National Trust area ranger Jamie Armstrong at the base of the tree to record the final measurement.
John Pring, the trust’s countryside manager in the Lake District says the wetter, warmer weather over the last few years will have helped the Grand Fir to grow.
It is taller than local landmark, Ambleside Parish Church. It would also tower over 10 double decker buses stacked on top of each other.
The National Trust estimates that the record-breaking Grand Fir has stored at least one tonne of carbon in its lifetime, the equivalent of one person flying from Boston to London and back.
John, who helped to measure the Grand Fir in 2012, said: “It was likely to have been planted by Thomas Wrigley around 1860, as part of his Wansfell Holme country estate.
“At the time Victorians loved creating arboretums, to show off newly discovered trees, including conifers from the Americas. You can follow a trail and spot the Grand Fir and other special trees like pines and spruces.”
There are other tree treats on land owned by the National Trust, including:
- The Borrowdale yews, which are at least 1,500 years old, and the subject of a poem by William Wordsworth.
- Beatrix Potter’s Bramley apple tree planted and cared for by her at Hill Top near Hawkshead around 100 years ago.
- A gigantic pear tree, a Blakeney Red, donated to the National Trust from the orchard of the company who use this variety to make Babycham. People can see it at Acorn Bank near Penrith
- A 2,000-year-old yew tree and a pair of 240-year-old chestnut trees grown from seeds from Versailles, on Sizergh’s estate near Kendal.
- The Borrowdale rainforest, which was declared a National Nature Reserve earlier this year in celebration of the coronation of King Charles. The Borrowdale rainforest is one of the few surviving examples of a temperate rainforest covering less than 1% of the UK.
