Wellingtonia 100

Not strictly the 100th as I have slightly tweaked the order, but this majestic pair of trees captured on the Rhinefield Ornamental Drive, not far from Brockenhurst, seemed an appropriate marker for Wellingtonia No.100.

It took an infuriatingly long time to get into Ordnance Survey online maps this morning, collecting various bizarre central server errors on the way, but I get there in the end. With the ornamental drive top left, in the area bounded by the A35 (left) and the A337 (right). We parked at the southern car park, known to the Forestry Commission as the Blackwater Car Park. Two paths are provided, one slightly to the west of the road, one slightly to the east, so one does not have to share the trees with cars.

It might have taken us a little while to find the place, but it was well worth it. Most impressive from the word go, with lots and lots of very tall trees. Not many Wellingtonia, but there were the two snapped above. Plus the odd coastal redwood.

Started with the low life, rather than with the high life.

Many years ago, we came across lots of large wood ants' nests in Stoke Woods, just outside Exeter, but have only rarely come across them since. These woods yielded two, of which the more interesting is snapped above, with shadows.

The top was alive with ants. A lot more alive than would appear from this zoomed close-up, although the ants are visible on this laptop.

The view from the western path as we headed south.

The base of one of the pair of Wellingtonia snapped above. The accompanying sign tells us that they are the largest trees in the forest but does not tell us who planted them or when. And I am not convinced that they are the largest: they might be the tallest and they might well become the largest by trunk volume, but there are a lot of other large trees round about.

I close with some more low life.

Altogether a very fine place and I hope we shall get back before too long. And when one has done this ornamental drive, there is another one on the other side of the A35, the Bolderwood Arboretum Ornamental Drive.

I shall report on the following centenary celebration shortly.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/10/wellingtonia-99.html.

Reference 2: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/10/wellingtonia-95.html. The start of the story.

Reference 3: https://new-forest-national-park.com/rhinefield-ornamental-drive/. The official story.

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