Temple Newsam's sweet chestnut

A few pictures of a beautiful, ancient sweet chestnut pollard from the Leeds City Council-owned Temple Newsam park. Whoever decided on the management of this tree made the right choices - reducing the limbs in to reduce the lever-arm stress on them, and fencing off the tree to discourage people from being near it. I doubt it will fail any time soon anyway - it's so short and squat, and so well-established that it's probably going nowhere - but by keeping people away from under it, the risk of harm is even lower. Again, another example of brilliant tree management, maintaining ancient trees for their cultural significance and the biodiversity benefits they bring.