Twelve hardy volunteers aged from 7 to 70 turned out in gale force winds and heavy showers on Saturday 14th November to further control the nutrient sapping epicormic growth (suckers growing from the base) on the trees of Lime Tree Avenue, Uckfield. 

 

"This is the third year we have done this" said Dr Martyn Stenning, Chairman of Lime Aid, "The job is getting easier each year". The team pruned about 50 trees this time, collected litter and generally tidied the avenue before the weather became too bad to work.

However, they will be back on Saturday February 13th to do the remaining 50 trees and get the avenue ready for the summer.  Everyone is welcome to join the Task Day.  Lime Aid is a charity dedicated to the conservation and proper management of Lime Tree Avenue. Call Martyn on 01825 762893 for further details.

 

 

Volunteers gathered for another task day in Lime Tree Avenue, Uckfield, on Saturday, February 14, 2009. More epicormic growth was removed from the base of trees and more tidying up done.

 

 

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Volunteers helped plant six lime saplings and trim undergrowth around dozens of trees in an historic Uckfield avenue on Saturday.

 

There was huge interest in the event which was organised by Lime Aid, a group working to restore the avenue.

 

Chairman Dr Martyn Stenning said: ‘What we have achieved followed on from the excellent task day in January, such that most of the trees have now had at least one cut of epicormic growth. However, there is still growth to cut, so we will seek to schedule another task day for early February, during which we will prepare the avenue for spring and summer.

 

‘I would encourage anyone who cares about trees, the environment, Uckfield, and who likes exercise and fresh air to come to our next meeting on Thursday, January 29, in the college library at 7.30pm to find out where we go from here. There is still much work to do. Please join us.’

 

Saturday’s volunteers included Wealden MP Mr Charles Hendry, Uckfield mayor Cllr Louise Eastwood and members of the town’s Lions and Rotary clubs.

 

Crashed

 

Uckfield Community Technology College teacher Mr Richard Carter and new principal Mr Hugh Hennebry were there too trimming the epicormic growth, or suckers, at the bottom of trees and helping to plant the young trees.

 

Mr Carter had a lucky escape when a poplar in the avenue crashed down across the college entrance narrowly missing his car. He stopped just in time thanks to former principal Mr Craig Pamphilon who raced to the scene.

 

Mr Carter said he was pleased see efforts being made to look after the avenue. His classrooms had overlooked it for 15 years and he thought it had been used as a ‘builders’ tip’ for too long.

 

Mr Hendry remembered Lime Aid founder, the late Mike Benians, and said: ‘I think this is a wonderful event. It is really a community initiative which, of course, wouldn’t have happened without Mike.

 

‘I think a lot of people are now seeing that this is a very historic avenue of trees and wanting to do their bit to preserve it. It is also great to see new trees being planted especially after the near disaster earlier this year.

 

‘I am very proud to have trimmed my one tree. Hopefully when people start to walk up and down here after the weekend they will see how much work has been done.’

 

Revitalised

 

Uckfield mayor Cllr Louise Eastwood helped too. She was pleased to see the avenue being revitalised. ‘It is amazing to be part of this history in the making. In 20 years time I will be able to look at the grown up saplings and remember this day. I am really pleased to see so many people here, it just goes to show what can be done when the community pulls together.'

 

Dr Stenning added: ‘This task day has been a long time in planning, with much work going on behind the scenes with applying for grants, sourcing and paying for the trees, supports and compost, arranging insurance with, and joining British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV), publicising the event, arranging deliveries and the bonfire site, consulting the owners of the trees, the college and the leisure centre and much more.

 

‘I am grateful to all the members of Lime Aid who have helped with these tasks and I warmly thank all the volunteers who turned out on such a chilly winter’s day to do the work.

 

‘I would particularly like to thank Mr Carter and Mr Hennebry.  We need to work closely with the college which is our largest close neighbour.’

 

 

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Added: November 27, 2008

Lucky-escape teacher to help plant trees

 

A teacher saved by a college principal from being crushed in his car under a falling tree is to help plant saplings next to the site of the drama.

 

Richard Carter was turning into the entrance to Uckfield Community Technology College on his way to work earlier this year when principal Craig Pamphilon, who has since retired, ran out to stop him just as a poplar fell.

 

The whole incident was captured on a college CCTV camera and the footage watched by many on TV afterwards.

Now Mr Carter, who will be joined by the new principal at the college Hugh Hennebry and students, is due to help plant lime saplings at the site during a task day in Lime Tree Avenue on Saturday, November 29.

 

The event is being organised by Lime Aid which, through a private donation, paid for the felling of four more poplars considered dangerous after the near-disaster involving Mr Carter. 

 

The Tree Council is helping to fund the new planting through a £330 grant. Help has also been given by environmental consultancy Phlorum and developers Clearwater.

 

Community event

 

Volunteers are still being sought to join the task day where work will also focus on trimming epicormic growth, or suckers, at the base of 150-year-old lime trees. Wealden MP Charles Hendry and Uckfield mayor Louise Eastwood have already signed up.

 

Leading the work party will be chairman of Lime Aid Martyn Stenning, an ecologist at the University of Sussex and Uckfield resident. He invites people to bring along loppers or secateurs and wear gloves to protect their hands. There is also the opportunity to bring along a potato wrapped in foil to cook on a bonfire for lunch.

 

Dr Stenning, who was recently presented with an environment award by Wealden Council, said:  ‘This is a community environmental event that everyone can take part in, cutting, dragging, burning and raking.  You can do as little or as much as you like.  Be prepared to get dirty and damp, but also to get in touch with nature by helping these trees along. 

 

‘Cutting the epicormic growth rejuvenates the tree and encourages its leaves to flush higher up in the canopy.  All the trees have had their height reduced to prevent them from blowing over.  This will not have to be done again for about 20 years, and will prolong their life. 

 

‘Lime Tree Avenue is part of Uckfield’s history and is a great land-mark.  The trees were well maintained by the Nevill family until they left in the 1960s.  We have to perpetuate this maintenance, for the trees, other wildlife and the community.  Please come along and get fit by helping the trees get fit.  It will be fun!’

 

Story and pictures appeared in advance of the task day in the Sussex Express on p5, Friday, November 28, 2008. BBC Southern Counties radio interviewed lucky-escape teacher Richard Carter and included the item in news bulletins on Saturday, November 29. BBC TV filmed during the event and showed footage on Saturday, November 29 and Uckfield FM was there too interviewing volunteers. The Courier took pictures on the day.

 

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Added: October 22, 2008 

 

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Mr Hendry is pictured, right, signing up to take part in a task day. With him are Lime Aid secretary Mike Benians, centre, and county councillor Paul Sparks.

Cllr Eastwood, who also signed up for the task day, is pictured left with Mr Benians.

Thirty-six organisations were represented at the event organised by the Volunteer Bureau and Information Centre and held at Uckfield Civic Centre on June 21, 2008.

 

 

Added: June 3, 2008
Four unsafe poplars are felled by surgeons
Rogue poplars within an historic avenue of lime trees in Uckfield were felled last week. Tree surgeons started work on Thursday morning cutting them down in sections and finished on Friday.
The poplars were neighbours of a tree which fell unexpectedly earlier this year narrowly missing a car driving on to the Uckfield Community Technology College site.
It was only the quick action of principal Mr Craig Pamphilon, who ran to stop the car, which saved the driver and passenger from being crushed.
Lime Aid, a voluntary organisation campaigning to restore Lime Tree Avenue, funded the felling of the neighbouring poplars through a private donation. The aim is to replant with limes in National Tree Week in November.
Tree surgeon Nick Bagguley, who carried out the work, said it was clear the poplars had reached the end of their natural life. Nick

is pictured below with his father Ivan Bagguley, right, and Mark Humphries, centre. Ivan is pictured at work, below right.

 

 

  

Details of work which needs to be done in an Uckfield avenue before it can be considered for adoption by the county highways department have been given to the organisation campaigning for its restoration.
Lime Aid, which was set up to help maintain and improve historic Lime Tree Avenue, is now in a position to arrange preliminary surveys and seek estimates for the work and prepare for a major fund-raising drive to enable it to be carried out.
But first it must make sure it has the support of all the owners of the different sections of avenue for the work to go ahead, because without that support adoption cannot be considered.
Mr Dale Foden, deputy network manager for West Network Highways at the county council, attended a meeting of Lime Aid last week and offered to support the voluntary organisation where possible.
He stressed no county money was available to carry out improvements but said officers’ time and expertise could be offered to inspect work carried out and ensure it met the necessary standard.
He made it clear that before adoption could be considered the organisation requesting adoption should have ownership, or full documented control, of all relevant areas, including consent of all those with an interest in the land.
‘The scale of the task we have before us is huge,’ said Lime Aid secretary Mike Benians. ‘But it is clear we must make it a priority to win the consent of all the owners to proceed with our efforts to see the avenue adopted.
‘It surely is in their best interests to do so because without a proper improvement and maintenance programme being established, their liabilities will continue to increase.
‘The owners are responsible for maintenance of their land and liable in the event of any accident but if we can help them bring it up to a standard acceptable to the highways department and have it adopted by them then their burden will be lifted and the whole community will have an avenue to be proud of and an essential right of way which is safe to use.’ More

 

Lime Aid secretary Mike Benians has welcomed a town council initiative to tackle the problem of poorly maintained footpaths on the Manor Park Estate, Uckfield.
His organisation is campaigning to restore Lime Tree Avenue where there are similar maintenance difficulties caused by multiple private ownerships of a public right of way.
Ownership of the avenue, and the estate footpaths, was shared out by developers of the Manor Park Estate, Federated Homes, who are now in receivership. Nobody has ever co-ordinated collection of funds which could be used to carry out maintenance work.
Mr Benians said: ‘We have already identified all the owners of the different sections of the avenue and know that many more people have covenants attached to their deeds which say they should contribute to its upkeep. We would like to work with them to return the avenue to its former glory.
‘We feel it is essential for the avenue to be brought up to a standard where it can be adopted by the county council and just like the town council-led group we are asking the county for details of the standard required before it will consider adopting Lime Tree Avenue.’

 

A working party is to be set up by Uckfield Town Council to try to find a way of solving a problem of poorly-maintained footpaths on the Manor Park Estate.
Some councillors opposed the idea at a meeting of the environment and leisure committee on Monday, April 7, 2008, because the footpaths are privately owned.
Cllr Barrie Murray said: ‘Until people pay up and look after what they are supposed to be looking after we will always have this problem up there.’
But Cllr Dorothy Sparks said she was continually having people phoning and writing asking for something to be done about the paths and just because previous efforts to solve the problem had failed it didn’t mean they shouldn’t try again.
Chairman Cllr Alan Whittaker said members should consider the health and safety aspect. ‘The footpaths are in very bad condition indeed. We do have a duty as a council to look at these sorts of issues.’
• The Uckfield organisation Lime Aid which is campaigning to restore Lime Tree Avenue in the town has welcomed the initiative. The problems with the footpaths are similar to those in the avenue.

 

 

 

Lime Aid offers help after near-disaster
Four poplars are to be felled in the interests of safety following a near disaster last week which was prevented only by the quick-thinking of a head teacher.
The moment when the principal of Uckfield Community Technology College, Craig Pamphilon, saved a member of staff and his son being crushed, in their car, under a falling tree was captured on CCTV and the footage has attracted widespread interest.
The fallen tree was a poplar, not covered by a preservation order attached to other trees in an avenue next to the college, and there is concern about the safety of four other poplars nearby.
Now Lime Aid, an Uckfield organisation campaigning to restore Lime Tree Avenue, has offered to fund the felling of those poplars - which can be seen, right, beside the one that fell last week - and Wealden District Council has said it would support the works in the interests of safety.
Landscape and arboriculture assistant Richard Webber said there were two options for reducing the risk posed by the trees, significantly prune them or remove them.
The only way the council could protect them was with a tree preservation order but because of the recent wind throw of a poplar in the school grounds it would be reluctant to do that.
‘It would be ideal to replant with lime trees,’ he said. ‘And that would be a good project for National Tree Week later in the year.’
Ownership of the avenue is fragmented and this causes problems with co-ordinating maintenance of the trees. Lime Aid wants to encourage and enable the owners to bring it up to a standard where it could be adopted by East Sussex County Council.
Owner of the fallen poplar Jeff Brooks, who lives next door to the college in Downsview Crescent, said he was grateful to Lime Aid secretary Mike Benians for helping him find a contractor to remove the tree.
He was also grateful for the offer of funding to remove the other four poplars. He had been very worried about the scale of the problem.
Mr Benians said the main concern of Lime Aid was to see the avenue properly maintained so it was safe to be used by the many people heading on foot to and from the community college, leisure centre and Manor Park Estate.
‘These poplars are a safety risk – another was removed last year - and they are rogues in an avenue of lime trees. We would like to see them, and other gaps in the avenue, replaced with lime trees and will work towards doing that.’
College principal Mr Pamphilon said he was reassured by the news that for reasons of safety the poplar trees would be felled. He was pleased to learn that new lime trees were likely to be planted and supportive of the strategy being put in place.