The last blog gave some musings on the large number of small trees at the site…..
 |
| Larger trees with spreading crowns are uncommon at Kinver Edge, and extreme branches of oak have a tendancy to die-back when faced with competition. |
Kinver Edge’s sandy patch off Compton Road has a good, if rather young example, of pendunculate oak Quercus robur. In the open, the tree has been able to develop a spreading crown and pay attention to girth; rather than a desperate fight for height and light. Such trees – having generous crowns, and a notable girth – are relative rarities at Kinver Edge, owing to the former pastoral use of the site.
 |
| Diameter at breast height (DBH) can be used to calculate ages of trees. |
An investigation, working with volunteers, is planned for 2012 to map the locations of many trees of significant girth: the DBH, or diameter at breast height. From these results it may be possible to see certain trends in location, especially when coupled with other archaeological evidence. There are at least two obvious former hedgerows, one of holly Ilex aquifolium and one of crab apple Malus sylvestris, marking former field edges but now consumed by secondary growth in the absence of grazing livestock. With both cases the surrounding ground levels also support the hypothesis, and historic map evidence lends further weight.
Maybe our more significance oaks were left to provide shade for livestock within the, allegedly, stone walled fields: producing a random distribution? Or maybe they grew up to survive the now disappeared hedgerows: showing more obvious lines? Either way, they are present, although it is a case of can’t see the trees for the wood.
 |
| A mysterious line of laid crabapple runs parallel to a wide linear depression. Maybe a former track? |
 |
| Some of Kinver Edge's larger oaks line a public footpath off Kingsford Lane. |
