Morning Walk

Oak tree on Hayes Common, 22 September 2011.

Following yesterday's oak tree, here is a very different one that I pass on one of my local walks. The way it branches off from a low point like this suggests that it was originally a pollard, cut back to that height every few years and the branches and leaves harvested. But the branching point on this specimen is unusually low. A pollard would have been cut above the height at which cows and deer might graze. So although there are many old and ancient oak pollards in this area, there may be another explanation for this one.