A Change To The Blog

 Looking at the blog the other day I realised the sub-heading for the site was "One man's quest to see as many Monkey Puzzle trees as humanly possible." This got me thinking, because ever since I started the Quest I've had my lovely Nathalie alongside me, often she spots trees I've totally missed. I decided it was only fair and just to change the wording to reflect this fact. So as you may have noticed the sub-heading now reads:

A Quest to see as many Monkey Puzzle trees as humanly possible.

Monkey Puzzle Trees Seen - 905

A New Tree And Some Revisited

 Another tree we must have passed numerous times was spotted in Burton Bradstock this Summer. The reason for missing it is quite clear, it is well hidden behind a high wall. The only reason we saw it was we were stuck in traffic and Nathalie happened to see it as we were waiting.

High Street 2 - Burton Bradstock

I have also been revisiting some previously spotted trees. It's always nice to see how they've grown and to confirm they are still there. Especially as I know of a few of the trees that have featured in this blog have either perished or, even worse, been chopped down by unappreciating people.

Capel Manor Gardens (Apr 2015)

Capel Manor Gardens (Revisited Mar 2022)

Monkey Puzzle Pub (Mar 2014)

Monkey Puzzle Pub (Feb 2015)

Monkey Puzzle Pub (Revisited Mar 2024)

Myddleton House (Apr 2015)

Myddleton House (Revisited Oct 2024)

Nelson Square (May 2015)

Nelson Square (Revisited Jul 2023)

Finally, here is the very first tree that I spotted after starting my Quest! It is in Harrington Square Camden and it has grown spectacularly over the years, as the picture shows (Nat generously agreed to stand next to it for scale!).  Sadly the second tree I spotted, on Junction Road, was chopped down a few years ago by some stupid property developer., so I'm sadly unable to update its progress.

Harrington Square (Dec 2013)

Harrington Square (Revisited Nov 2024)

Monkey Puzzle Trees Seen - 905

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 1 - Great Waldingfield

The Heath 2 - Great Waldingfield

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 1 - 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

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

High Street - Lyndhurst

Gosport Road - 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

Alum Chine Road - Bournemouth

Wimborne Road - Bournemouth

Poole Road

Poole Road

Poole Park

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

St Ann's Road - Notting Hill

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