'What Can We Learn from Trees?' evening held in Burnham

Interested gardeners and environmentalists attended a two-course dinner and educational evening called ‘What Can We Learn From Trees?’ in Burnham on Friday, November 10.

Held at Burnham Park Hall and hosted by The Burnham Foundation the evening included a two-course meal and a talk from experts from The Woodland Trust and Burnham Beeches.

Martin Boiling, from The Woodland Trust, talked first about tree conservation beginning with the serious news of the loss of several ‘great trees’ in the country, such as the Sycamore Gap Tree by Hadrian’s Wall.

“A whole ecosystem is lost if a tree is lost,” said Martin who encouraged people to plant more trees, either at home or through charities like The Woodland Trust.

“We must plan and plant for the future and get out there amongst nature and get children involved,” he said.

Burnham Beeches’ conservation officer Helen Read then took to the stage to talk about local varieties of apple trees.

There’s one called the Langley Pippin, Reverend Wilks and a new one grown in the village called Basil’s Burnham Beauty.

Helen, who is also a founding member of the Ancient Tree Forum, said: “This is a very special apple as it’s very local to us. I suspect that there are less than 12 trees in the world of this variety.

“We are trying hard to produce some more apple trees and would like to be able to plant a few more around Burnham.”

Helen then gave a gift of a Basil’s Burnham Beauty sapling to Burnham Parish Council.

The evening was also interactive, with guests being called up to the front where a model of a tree stood. They had to pin pictures of wildlife and fungi to it and answer a few questions.

There was also a ‘tree story’ element to the evening which compare Bill Morris, co-chair for Buckinghamshire Culture, did an exuberant job of.

He went from table to table where everyone had to nominate a storyteller who would recount a favourite ‘tree story’.

Many told stories of favourite garden apple trees, or childhood climbing trees, but one gentlemen told a remarkable tale.

“I was working in Beijing,” he said. “It was the time when Chairman Mao called for the chopping down of all the willow trees.

“Everywhere you looked it was bare and stark. It was dreadful.

“One day we had planned a sightseeing trip and my colleagues and I decided to do something about the tree problem so we planted 700 saplings just by the Great Wall.”

Attendees took away lots of tips, not just planting and gardening tips, but also recommendations for different nature apps to use, which websites to log sightings of birds/trees and insects on and ways to further support environmental charities.

Organiser Viv Nicholas said in his closing speech that it was a fascinating evening and gave those in the room food for thought about “What more can we do and what can we do better?”

The attendance of 70 interested villagers further boosted Viv’s call for a Burnham Eco Group, something he’s keen to set-up soon and involve people of all ages in.