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Woody
27-09-2016, 01:30 AM
Savernake is an ancient deciduous forest , with some very very old Oak giants , including the King Oak and Queen oak, the famous great big belly oak amongst others.

We often come here for our weekly family decompression, otherwise known as a family walk.

Well this weekend , we went off track and I found this giant .
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160927/6cf1ef40f8788c2199f3a42330c8e1f0.jpg
It must be at least 300 years old this tree...
Imagine what was going on 300 years ago when it was just a sapling....


And as we were leaving , just around the corner, I found this :

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160927/f7a61e915a215fea0c3e4d226d78f565.jpg
A beautiful burr oak with a huge burl on its bole.
It's enormous and it would weigh a tonne if it were possible to weigh it.
The photo doesn't really do it justice...

As a carpenter , I can only guess at how much money some extravagant punter would pay to have a table or bench made of this stuff, but one thing I can tell you for sure...
I will keep it a secret and not reveal its location to anyone.

Ive been coming here for over 10 years and only now ive seen it , so I think he'l be OK...
Fingers crossed, it will stay there for another few centuries....

Another sure thing is that inside that burl the beauty of the grain and curves are most likely exquisite and unique.
Beautiful timber, is Oak.

What a wonderful giant , and I feel privileged to live so close to these wonderful organisms.

Blessed be the Great British Oak Trees

Pootle
27-09-2016, 08:20 AM
Holy moly they are staggering! I love that the huge burl looks like it's smiling down at the lad.

Woody
27-09-2016, 09:19 AM
Its mad isn't it?!
It really does look like a big burly smiley...

I think in fact that's what I'll call that lovely Oak from now on...

Smiley !

Good reference point too

👍

David_JAFO
27-09-2016, 08:34 PM
hello Woody,
I was about to say that's one awesome King Alfred's cake there.. :p
Regards
David

MikeWilkinson
28-09-2016, 06:48 PM
Wow.... that is all I have to say.

Sent from my SM-A300FU using Tapatalk

shepherd
05-10-2016, 08:57 PM
wow!! would love to see this in person!!

Woody
27-10-2016, 11:28 PM
wow!! would love to see this in person!!
Shepherd , If you ever find yourself around these parts , I'll be more than happy to take you there , so you can see it in person ...
...
Providing you bring a chainsaw and some lunch... 😁.
Just kidding, don't bring that...
But the offer is there bud.

Savernake forest is full of little gems like these, there's also the
big bellied oak , a sessile so big and so old that it's now got a steel corset to stop it from splitting and falling ...
It is thought to be around 1000 years old or more...
http://www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk/discoveries/newdiscoveries/2009/the_big_belly_oak

I'll walk there one of these days and post the pic.


More info:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/moonraking/landscape_savernake.shtml