staggeringly good ancient oaks..

Day 269 #365DaysWild

To Calke Abbey, Derbyshire.

Red and fallow deer in the park.

A flock of redwing in song. 

And the Abbey, a living set for Dickens Miss Haversham. No attempt to add gloss to a shabby ancient stately home that had disappeared under the clutter of generations. Such engaged and knowledgable volunteers to make the day fascinating.

But the wonderful veteran trees especially caught our imagination following our day at the Notts Biodiversity Action Group day on Wednesday. Some staggeringly good ancient oaks.

And glorious standing deadwood. Left by the National Trust. Not felled and removed as the tidy gardeners of the past may have thought necessary.

We need more dead and decaying trees and the wildlife that takes its life from such decay. Standing and horizontal dead and decaying trees. More for our too-frequently-overlooked saproxylic beetles.

Congratulations National Trust.