MIGHTY OAKS A parent at Knightsbridge School explains the inspiration behind a mighty oak forest being planted in Scotland and made up of acorns grown and nurtured by school pupils
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HARRY SCRYMGEOUR
s for many of us, the Covid pandemic and the various lockdowns gave me a chance to slow down and reflect, and I have been lucky enough to do much of this surrounded by trees. After my mother died, in the spring of 2019, I started to get involved with the running of a farm in Scotland. I spent much of my childhood on this farm, but it wasn’t until successive lockdowns – finding myself walking around this collection of fields and woodlands, marvelling at the unfurling of spring in front of me – that I began to truly fall in love with it. I realised how little I knew about agriculture and forestry. I could do the basics but couldn’t really tell many different tree species apart. I found a useful app and began educating myself and I can now proudly distinguish an English Oak (Quercus robur) from our more native Scottish variety (petraea). In the second half of the 20th century, most commercial forestry in the UK focused on fast growing non-native softwoods like Sitka,
Norway spruce or Douglas fir. In 2020, we embarked on a new forestry plan focusing on planting native species, particularly broadleaf or hardwood trees. We also aim to turn an extra 100 acres of farmland into forest, which will mean planting some 150,000 trees over the coming years. This year, we will plant 60,000 saplings, sourced mainly from local tree nurseries. The idea for a Knightsbridge School forest started when my son joined the school. Like many parents, I feel that connecting children to nature is more important than ever. I see the way my son develops and grows, running in the woods. The first seeds of this idea were planted by Magoo Giles, the Principal at Knightsbridge School (KS). I showed him a picture of an acorn growing in an oak vase. I was planning to donate it to my son’s classroom and Magoo asked me to come back with one for every classroom at the school. These are very special vases, designed by my friend, Ed Spurr, that allow you to see the early stages of a tree’s growth from germinated acorn to sapling. You not only witness the development of the stem of the tree and its first leaves but also the exploratory root that would otherwise be
“In 50 years’ time, if a tree has grown in the mind of a pupil, they can travel up to Scotland to find their towering oak tree and lie in its shade”
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