We all love beautiful trees (no need to hug them, but feel free if you feel inclined)
As our area used to be part of The Great North Wood, and we even have “Forest” and “Oak” in our local ward names, so trees are really important to our identity, as well as our health and environment.
I would like to celebrate and document those local trees that have a special place in our hearts, minds, and gardens, and so I invite you to share your pictures and your stories here so we can all learn about them, and maybe even help to protect them.
Edit: I’ve made a map so you can locate these trees in case you want to visit them. I’ll try to keep it up to date
I think it is a Cedar of some sort, probably a Cedar of Lebanon, and it is a rather substantial tree. It is strangely situated today as it is on an access path rather than a garden, however, from the look of a local map from the late 1890s, I think this may have been planted as part of a large villa at this site called “Oakfield” (ironically).
There used to be a great Eucalyptus tree on Sunderland Rd (where it becomes the South Circular). Sadly this one collapsed in a winter storm in January 2024 - fortunately only a car and wall were damaged, and no people as far as I know.
I guess it is a reminder that these mature trees can be beautiful, but they also need care and maintenance (this had not been crowned in years, or ever), and can be a hazard.
I love this oak tree on the corner of Honor Oak Road and Forest Hill Road. Photo taken one misty morning about 5 years ago. Sadly the oak pictured on the opposite corner was felled by the owner.
Oooh, I love that one too - in fact I photographed it just the other morning.
Oaks like these were used as way markers and boundary markers in the era before maps were invented. I am quite certain this is a pretty old oak and could be an important marker itself as it is on the junction of two historic paths through the Great North Wood
Strangely it does not appear on the Tree map of London so no indication there of the age.
How about this one in the Horniman Gardens?
I think it is a Dawn Redwood. But this is not dawn, it is the from an autumn evening while everything else has gone a bit darker.
Trees can grow around most things (there’s a fab one in Nunhead Cemetery I’ll share one day) and I’ve seen them “fuse” as well, but this one is just extraordinary. I hope it gets decent protection and maintenance and lasts for a long time.
If you want to find it, it is on Devonshire Road, just before you get to the bottom of Ewelme Road (coming from Forest Hill).
I walk past this frequently and have always wondered how it formed - whether someone did a bit of guerrilla gardening or whether it happened naturally somehow.
oh WOW! I’d not spotted it in full bloom like that. It really is amazing, but the house must be rather dark! As far as I know, magnolia is not a threat to the house as it is shallow rooting, but conversely I understand that the roots are widespread and damaged easily, so it is amazing this has survived to this extent (must be the benefits of our clay soil).
It certainly can happen naturally (I believe it is called Inosculation) where the branches of each tree are really close, so rub together and remove the bark, exposing the cambium, which then ‘grafts’ them together.
This is really established, so it is hard to say if it was done on purpose, but either way it is an amazing sight - it would be lovely if this was a kids gateway to a play area rather than just on the side of the road, but … maybe we can hope for the future!
I couldn’t help myself, I had to share this one as it is at its peak right now - unless today’s wind has blown the blossom away.
Check out this beautiful Mimosa (Acacia dealbata) tree right on the edges of our area on Sydenham Park Road (just before Trinity path). I’ve admired it for a few years since I first spotted it, and I am itching to ask for an air-layer to grow my own (for bonsai - but that’s another story).
Hopefully you can get down there to see it in full bloom in the near future
Today’s special tree is one I had overlooked in the past, but jumped out at me recently … not literally, thank goodness, as I was walking back from Sydenham Gardens.
It sits on the corner of Mayow Road and the top end of Wynell Road. It is apparently a Monterey Cypress which according to the tree map of London is at least 24m tall, dwarfing the houses it stands next to.
I have no idea how it may have ended up on this corner as this was largely fields and not part of the nearby Perrymount Estate, but could be related as I would guess it must be reasonably mature.
It would be completely wrong to have this topic and not have ONE particular TREE included - that would be HILLarious ….
The One Tree Hill “Oak of Honor” is actually the third (?) character to play this role, but of course, the story is that Queen Elizabeth I rested underneath it at some point on her way to shop at Bell Green visit Place House on Perry Hill.
In fact, my own preferred origin story is that a magnificent oak tree stood on this spot and acted as a boundary marker for the lands of Peckham and Camberwell that had been given to the “Honor of Gloucester”, the title of Henry I’s illegitimate son, Robert de Melhent, Earl of Gloucester. Hence the “Oak of Honor”.
Either way, that tree did not survive and several pretenders have been planted at this location over the years, this particular one dating to 1905
Either way, it is nice to have a very specific tree being a local celebrity.
Especially fabulous as Steve Grindlay our local historian is the great grandson of John Nisbet whose name is on the plaque. I first met @Rob on one of Steve’s legendary walks around SE23!
A clear picture of the plaque’s wording is in this album.
