IMG 1407-001-The Hollow Tree

From the heath-hands.org.uk website:

Perhaps the most famous tree on the Heath, hailed as ‘The Queen of the Woods’ and as one of the Great Trees of London, the Hollow Beech casts a fantastical figure near the Vale of Health. Having naturally hollowed through the action of bacteria and fungi over the past century or so, you can now see straight through the tree from the right angle, and people in the past have clambered inside. The record is 15 people inside the trunk but this must have been quite a stack and a squeeze!

Being such a popular attraction for playful children and adults alike does raise concern for the tree’s health. Root compaction from so much footfall around the trunk can damage this magnificent tree’s life support system, so a rope fence now encourages people to admire it from a respectful distance. Work has been done to aerate and fertilise the soil around the tree, as well as pruning it to prevent storm damage so this magnificent specimen can thrive and be admired by future generations.