ancient oak

CAMUSNAGAUL’S ANCIENT GREEN CANOPY

Iain Ferguson An ancient pollarded oak tree at Camusnagaul has been listed as one of 70 ancient trees in Britain to be recognised in the Queen’s Green Ancient Canopy as part of her jubilee celebrations.

The 350-year-old tree is a rare survivor from the past, growing naturally in the ancient woodlands of Camusnagaul and Achaphubuil just across the loch from the town of Fort William, which incredibly it pre-dates.

It is the only entry from a crofting community woodland as all of the other ancient trees in Scotland are on large estates or in the grounds of mansions and castles.

As featured in the Lochaber Life of November 2021, the area in which the tree grows won a Commended Award in a ‘Scotland’s Finest Woods’ competition, which revealed the history of the woodland, being bought in 1995 from the Forestry Commission with the help of Scottish Natural Heritage.

At that time the new local owners celebrated with a dram as the deal was completed, recalling that the great aunt of one of the crofters had been fined for collecting firewood from the woodlands.

Excluding grazing animals has helped in the regeneration of the native woodland and perhaps the aged oak, as has the removal of nonnative species which can take over and destroy the original habitat. A pathway through the woodlands, which also passes the oak tree, is easily accessible from the Camusnagaul Ferry pier and has been extended by 2kms by crofters Ewen Morrison, Tony Boyd and Michael Foxley over 2020/21. Visitors to the ancient woodland and oak are always welcome, as long as they do not damage the environment. The walk can be done by catching the ferry from Fort William across the loch and back again in just a few hours.

A great sight and a step back through history when the tree first burst out as a sapling to survive through clan battles and Jacobite uprisings. It was already quite mature when Fort William was being built across the water. If only trees could talk...