Posted by Our first ‘Ride for Research’ since the pandemic was a great success. It began with an enlightening tour of Wythenshawe Park with Joe Walsh (former Manchester Council Tree Officer) covering a bloodless siege of Wythenshawe Hall (back in Oliver Cromwell’s day) and the eerie story of the Billy Gibb’s Oak that unfortunately did not end so well. On this sunny 15-mile ride we visited three schools (Piper Hill, The Willows and Pioneer House High). Three trees were (backfill) planted by students (trowels in hand) at each school. This formed part of our F4T educational workshop that covered tree benefits, climate change mitigation, tree products including how trees grow and function. This sparked many engaging questions and great feedback from the students and we are sure they are a tad more aware of the world of arboriculture as a result of our visit.
We would like to extend special thanks to Manchester City Council (notably Noel Nugent & William White) for preparing the tree pits with stakes and ties, Barchams for the three trees and Dealga O’Callaghan for the rider’s lunch. A huge thank-you again to Joe Walsh for giving up his valuable time. Look out for the ride write-up in the Arboricultural Association Arb. Mag. featuring the conclusion of the Billy Gibb’s Oak story.
Photo shows the group grow-tree-grow chant that provides some ‘electromagnetic energy’ from the soil to ‘help each tree on its way’…..
Fund4Trees 