The Greatest 'Discovery' Of My Quest So Far - Robin Hood's Bower (2021)

Whilst this blog talks about my Quest to see as many Monkey Puzzle Trees as humanly possible, the truth is without the support and assistance of  my incredible sidekick Nathalie, my spotting and hence this blog would be so much poorer.  What started as 'one man's quest' has morphed into two people's! The most common way for us to spot a Monkey Puzzle tree is when we randomly spot one when out and about, which more often than not is when we're on holiday. However, very rarely we will come across an article on the internet/newspaper/magazine or even on TV that features a particular Monkey Puzzle tree or trees that cry out to be seen.

It was after such a TV programme had briefly mentioned Robin Hood's Bower's Monkey Puzzle trees, located in Southleigh Woods Somerset that led to me & Nathalie driving for over an hour and half from Dorset to check them out. We parked up in a narrow country lane and set out in a light drizzle to find what we hoped would be something rather special.  What we were to discover amongst the mature pine trees of Southleigh Woods (as the title of this post indicates) was the greatest group of trees of the Quest so far!

As the Monkey Puzzle trees first came into view, it is fair to say, I became quite emotional and was left temporarily speechless. What stood in front of us was a group of over 100 mature and juvenile trees, it felt like we had discovered the Holy Grail of Monkey Puzzles. Once we were actually walking amongst them the sheer scale of the trees could really be appreciated. I expect it is probably the closest you can get to 'experiencing' what a Chilean collection of Monkey Puzzle trees feels like, short of travelling all the way to their native home.

Nathalie chilling amongst the trees

The group of trees consisted of a large number of fully mature trees, with a healthy scattering of younger trees amongst them, clearly the trees have been reproducing for many years. The younger trees ranged from small sapplings to adolescents of various sizes, whilst the floor was awash with old seed pods. The trees roughly covered 1.25 acres and numbered at least 200, a figure me and Nathalie agreed upon after a couple of attempts at counting them. We spent quite a while soaking up the atmosphere and the drizzle, which would normally be a pain, just added to the magical feeling. I don't think I'll find anywhere in the UK as special as this when it comes to the Quest, and we plan to return at a later date to soak up the very special atmosphere these wonderful tress create.

An aerial view of the trees

My reasearch later uncovered the unusual reason for these trees existence. They were apparently planted by the Longleat Estate, circa 1965-1967, at the suggestion of the then Lord Weymouth, Alexander Thynn, later 7th Marquis of Bath, purely as a whim when replanting other trees in the area - link. I'm no fan of the UK's landed gentry but he is one Lord I would sincerely love to thank personally for what he has created, a truly special place.

The floor covered in spent seeds

I have included just four photos but will post a larger selection in my next post. Once I've updated all the other trees I've seen (unfortunately due me procrastinating there are quite a few) I hope to post a little more about this very special place.

The amazing canopy

Monkey Puzzle Trees Seen - 844