Paul Wood: ‘People are spending more time looking at the streets around them’

THE current lockdown is giving people a chance to look at their streets with “fresh eyes”, according to a tree expert who has helped draft a map of landmark trees around the capital.

Paul Wood, who lives just of Hornsey Road, was called on by cartographers to provide expert advice on the best trees to visit and preserve.

Mr Wood hopes that the many Londoners who have spent their time rushing along the streets of the capital to and from work without taking in their surroundings, may now slow down and enjoy what is out there.

The Native Black Poplar in the Joseph Grimaldi Park, off Pentonville Road, is one of the trees on the map which Mr Wood says is “very rare”.

The Native Black Poplar in Grimaldi Park

The 52-year-old said: “It’s a really striking tree and I encourage anyone who lives close to use their daily exercise to go and see it.”

He added: “Streets can become something different at this time. Most people are out for exercise now instead of rushing to the tube or to meet someone. People are spending more time looking at the streets around them and I hope this map can help with that.”

There is an enormous fig tree in Amwell Street next to the Clerkenwell Parochial Church of England Primary School which is “wider than it is tall”.

“You really can’t miss it, it’s so big and so recumbent,” Mr Wood said. “Anyone in the area should enjoy it if they get the chance.”

The Hardy ash in St Pancras Cemetery

Other prominent trees include the Hardy Ash in St Pancras Cemetery, which was planted in the middle of a pile of gravestones that had been moved when the St Pancras railway station was being built in the 1800s. It was planted at the direction of the novelist and poet Thomas Hardy, who was working on the station as an architect at the time.

Mr Wood added: “It’s a prime time of year to get out and look at trees as they come into leaf and flower. In the current situation, an appreciation of our surroundings during our daily limited exercise means looking at trees on our doorstep is potentially a really useful activity and you will be surprised by how exciting and interesting the trees that are not far from our doors are.”

Asked what interested him most about trees Mr Wood said: “I have always been fascinated by trees. I suppose I am always wanting to find new species and understand more about them.

“I couldn’t put it down to one thing – I suppose maybe it’s just because my surname is Wood. Trees are in my blood.”

• The Great Trees of London map, price £8, can be found at https://bluecrowmedia.com/