Blog

I ran out of time in my blog entry the other day, so I couldn’t jabber on to you about the Planning Inspector’s verdict on the Welcome Building design itself.

If champagne, caviar and fois gras was on the Maples menu last Friday, the Project team would have been over there tucking in. We heard our appeal result from the Planning Inspectorate, and it was positive.

Over the past two weeks I have been volunteering here at Westonbirt Arboretum as part of my Applied Geography course at Bournemouth University.

‘What’s the difference between a shed and a barn?’ It’s a question the Planning Inspector asked the Cotswold District Council Conservation and Design Officer on Wednesday this week.

We had a photographic evening last night, around the Christmas trail. People came from as far as Manchester.

Recently my volunteers and I have been recording potentially hazardous trees, unfortunately a number will have to be removed so I have provided a list and maps for the tree team.

It’s always a very busy time for the events team just before the Enchanted Christmas. We don’t actually put the lights up for the trail ourselves, but a huge amount of planning goes into the whole event.

Phew, it’s all over and what an autumn it’s been! The evidence of a long and glorious leaf display now lies on the ground like the spent party poppers after a wild party.

October at Westonbirt is a very busy time for us all, especially the tree team. Along with the seasonal added car parking and admissions work we still have to under take our usual duties.

Fundraising for the Westonbirt Project is an interesting role in these times of austerity. I’ve had several responses to funding requests along the lines of, “Many thanks for your application. It looks like a terrific project, but….”...

With so many to choose from, I can’t help but add a couple more examples to my top ten! I hope visitors to Westonbirt this autumn can enjoy identifying these maples on their walks...

In the last few weeks I have been exploring the log books of W.J. Mitchell, Westonbirt Arboretum’s first curator. These books have been incredible to read, and offered fantastic quotes and stories of life at Westonbirt from the 1920s to the 1950s.

We have been considering using woodfuel at the Arboretum for a while, but as it’s such a complex subject area with lots of new technology involved.

As part of Operation Wallacea, a series of biological and social science expedition projects, I am spending a month high in the trees of the Cusuco National Park in Honduras.

As members of the tree team here at Westonbirt, we are always looking to find ways to improve the management of plant collections.