The Monkey Puzzle Tree Nut

Sunday 6 October 2024

A Load More Trees - Part 2 (Including The 900th Tree!)

The first 3 trees were spotted back in 2023 in Suffolk. The tree in Lavenham has the honour of being the 900th tree I've spotted, it's a very splendid tree to pass that milestone. The St Mark's Square tree is another one that I would have passed hundreds of times before I noticed it, I just happened to look out of the window, whilst on the top deck of a bus, and there it was!

Prentice Street - Lavenham

The Heath - Great Waldingfield (1)

The Heath - Great Waldingfield (2)

St Mark's Square - Camden

Smuggler's Lane - Upper Beeding

Monkey Puzzle Trees Seen - 904

A Load More Trees - Part 1

It's been a while since I posted anything so I've decided to just post all the new trees I've spotted, without much background 'story'. I will update the catalogue and Map when I can find the time to do it.

The first tree here is in North London, the rest were spotted in Dorset & Devon back in 2023. We must have driven past the Burton Bradstock tree countless times before finally seeing it! The most impressive spot was the Seaton Tramway tree, spotted on the outward journey and photographed on the return trip!

I've split the trees into 2 groups so here goes...

Downhills Way - Noel Park

Hendford Hill - Yeovil

Seaton Tramway - Colyton

Musbury Road - Axminster

Orchard View - Mosterton

Lister Gardens - Lyme Regis

Haye Lane - Lyme Regis

High Street - Burton Bradstock

Beer Road - Seaton

Stovar Long Lane - Seaton

Weston - The Donkey Sanctuary

Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens (1).jpg

Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens (2)

Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens (3)

Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens (4)

Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens (5)

Monkey Puzzle Trees Seen - 899

Friday 24 February 2023

Some Impressive Trees In Hampshire & Dorset Again!

For our Summer holiday me and Nathalie decided to check out Hampshire for a change. What we were to happily discover was the people of the county clearly have had a long history of planting Monkey Puzzle trees. The number of large mature trees was quite impressive, there being no better introduction of what's to come is the majestic mature Monkey Puzzle tree you encounter, standing proud by the road, as you approach Lyndhurst from the East. This being followed by another large tree on the road south as you drive out of the village.

High Street - Lyndhurst

Gosport Road - Lyndhurst

Whilst me and Nathalie dive around you sometimes get a weird feeling that there could be a Monkey Puzzle Tree close by. I guess it's because the area has the kind of housing/gardens we often see tress in that we get such a feeling. Whenever I get this feeling I usually start singing a ditty that goes "I've got a feeling there's a Monkey Puzzle Tree in the area." Strangely it does seem that whenever the ditty is sung we, more often than not, see a tree very soon afterwards, however I'm not sure if it's more likley due to the cognitive bias known as the availability heuristic that it feels like that. What I do know though is the next Monkey Puzzle tree we saw was immediately after I'd sung and what a spectacular Monkey Puzzle tree it was, both it's size and its roadside location being truly brilliant.

Lymington Road - New Milton

As we drove around on our holiday we came across a few more lovely mature trees, though a special mention must go to the pair planted in a front garden in Crescent Road Poole. The owners of the property get my upmost respect for allowing these 2 beauties to grow and flourish.

Crescent Road - Poole

Alum Chine Road - Bournemouth

Wimborne Road - Bournemouth

Poole Road

Poole Park

Western Road Surface Car Park - Poole

Milford Road - Lymington

Monkey Puzzle Trees Seen - 883

Six More Trees Spotted Down South

A very quick update on 6 trees that we spotted in early 2022. First off two lovely trees in Notting Hill, they have been planted in a really suitable location and hopefully will mature into 2 impressive Monkey Puzzles.

St Ann's Road - Notting Hill

The next 2 were spotted when visiting my Dad and Sandra in their lovely new posh flat out in the sticks. Both trees were in Buckinghamshire.

Amersham Road - Gerrards Cross

Deancroft Road - Chalfont St Peters

Finally we happened to spot that London Zoo has at least 2 more Monkey Puzzle trees in its grounds taht can be added to the ones we spotted a while ago.

London Zoo

Monkey Puzzle Trees Seen - 872

Tuesday 21 February 2023

Outer Hebrides

Me and Nathalie decided to visit the Outer Hebrides back in February 2002. On paper it might not be the best time of year to visit, with the weather always threatening to mess up the best laid plans,. However despite one or two 'scares', such as the ferry company cancelling all future sailings of one ferry with a day's notice to catch the last crossing the next day, we managed to complete our trip from Barra in the south island hopping to the Isle of Lewis in the north. The plane landing on the beach at Barra was the perfect start to the holiday. As it was it turned out, by visiting out of season, we were given the chance to explore the beautiful islands without encountering the mass of people that appear during the summer tourist season.

Nathalie enjoying the solitude of Baleshare Beach

We weren't expecting to see any Monkey Puzzle trees during our trip but happily we were proved completely wrong quite early on. The first trees we spotted were on a small inaccessible island near Askernish on South Uist, we can not be certain how many there were but from counting their tops we decided upon four.

Askernish - South Uist

The next tree we saw was one in Carinish, North Uist which appeared to be doing well in its roadside location. This was followed by three young roadside trees near Seilebost on the Isle of Harris. It would be good to return when they have had a chance to mature, to see whether they have managed to survive in their quite exposed location.

Carinish - North Uist

Seilebost - Isle of Harris

The final 5 trees we spotted were all on the Isle of Lewes, they seemed to pop up when we were least expecting them. In fact the trees we spotted qualify as the most Northerly and Westerly trees seen so far. I'm sure there must be more trees on the Outer Hebrides that we missed but having seen 13 different trees, when anticpating none, made what was a magical holiday just that little bit extra special!