Alexandra Palace

 Having been to Alexandra Palace on many occasions I was both surprised and delighted to discover there was a Monkey Puzzle Tree there that I'd manged to miss every time before.

Alexandra Palace

Alexandra Palace

Monkey Puzzle Trees Seen - 620

Isle Of Wight

So just before we entered the 2nd Covid-19 lockdown me and Nathalie managed to get another few days away from London. This time we spent a wonderful 5 days on the Isle Of Wight. I hadn't visited the island for about 25 years and I wasn't really expecting to see many trees. How wrong was I? We ended up spotting 16 trees, from juveniles to some old giants, which makes sense as the island was very popular during the reign of Victoria. So despite the weather being very wet and windy another great Covid-19 holiday was had by both of us. The trip across the Solent and back in the hovercraft was a real highlight!

Steyne Road - Bembridge

Quay Lane - Brading

York Avenue - East Cowes

Carisbrooke Road - Newport

Saint Georges Way - Newport

Derwent Drive - Ryde

Shanklin Road - Sandford

Palmerston Road 1 - Shanklin

Palmerston Road 2 - Shanklin

Wilton Road 1 - Shanklin

Wilton Road 2 - Shanklin

High Street - Whitewell

Kite Hill - Wootton

Barge Lane - Wootton

Firestone Copse Road - Wootton

Clarence Road - Wroxall

Monkey Puzzle Trees Seen - 619

Biddulph Grange - Passing 600 Trees Spotted!

When I started this blog 7 years ago I added to my map of my quest a layer of 'Monkey Puzzle Trees I've Yet To See', one of those was Biddulph Grange garden in Staffordshire. What is unusual about their gardens is that they use 4 juvenile Monkey Puzzle trees in their formal planting scheme. The four trees in the quarter beds of the Monkey Puzzle parterre are dug up and moved after 10 – 12 years. Their new home is in the woodland creating a rare site in the UK - a Monkey Puzzle forest.

So I was rather excited that we were able to get tickets to visit the gardens whilst we were in the Peak District. The experience was as good as I could hope for, as not only were there a number of mature trees I had the amazing experience of one of the giants dropping two Monkey Puzzle nuts onto my head as we walked underneath it! In total we counted 16 trees, including the 4 juvenile trees.

'Monkey Puzzle Trees I've Yet To See'

A Present From The Biddulph Grange Trees

Biddulph Grange 1

Biddulph Grange 2

Biddulph Grange 3

Biddulph Grange 4

Biddulph Grange 5

Biddulph Grange 6

Biddulph Grange 7

Biddulph Grange 8

Biddulph Grange 9

Biddulph Grange 10

Biddulph Grange 11

Biddulph Grange 12

Biddulph Grange 13

Biddulph Grange 14

Biddulph Grange 15

Biddulph Grange 16

Biddulph Grange 17

Biddulph Grange 18

Biddulph Grange 19

Biddulph Grange 20

Biddulph Grange 21

Monkey Puzzle Trees Seen - 603

Peak (Monkey Puzzle) District

Our break in Dorset was soon followed by a few days away in the Peak District staying in the incredible Shepherd's Hut at Gollin Farm near Flash. When Nathalie managed to dislocate and break one of her toes a week or so before we were due to leave, we were forced to reassess what we were going to on our holiday. The accident was caused by her trying to avoid kicking our lovely cat Anne-Marie. So as long walks across the Peaks were a no-no, I could looked forward to a lot of driving and not so much sightseeing, not to mention much less chance of me spotting any Monkey Puzzle trees!

Though, funnily enough, Nathalie turned out to be even better at spotting trees than I thought I was and driving through the spectacular countryside was much more fun than I'd thought it would be. Time and again whilst sitting in the back of the car, so she could keep her foot raised, she'd cry out "Monkey Puzzle tree!" The first she saw was the one in Macclesfield road that had to be a good half a mile away and only visible from the road for about 2 seconds as we were driving along.

We ended up spotting 11 trees 'in the wild' and a few more at Biddulph Grange (covered in the next post). We suspect the mature Monkey Puzzles at Biddulph is one of the reasons for so many trees, especially mature ones, in the area. The most spectacular tree would have to be the one at Manor Farm just outside Britain's highest village Flash, viewed from the road passing above the tree is quite breath taking.

Macclesfield Old Road - Buxton

Leek Road - Buxton

Flash

Manor Farm - Flash

Congleton Road 1 - Biddulph

Congleton Road 2 - Biddulph

Fold Lane - Biddulph

New Street - Biddulph Moor

Overton Road - Biddulph

Under The Hill - Biddulph Moor

Woodhouse Lane - Biddulph

Monkey Puzzle Trees Seen - 587