One of Britain’s biggest and oldest trees – the 1,000-year-old Bowthorpe Oak in Bourne – has received special funding to safeguard its future.
In 2002, it was named one of the 50 Great British Trees by the Tree Council in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee.
With a girth of 13.4 metres, the ancient tree at Bowthorpe Park Farm is not just an incredible sight, but also has a hollow trunk to provide the perfect habitat for insects, birds and other animals.
The Woodland Trust is working with the National Trust to restore damaged woods and conserve neglected ancient trees using £4.6 million of Green Recovery Challenge funding from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.
Funding will cover the cost of a specialist survey and some much-needed work to secure the tree’s impressive yet fragile, large branches.
The tree has “always been a part of family life” for the Blanchard family. | Photo: Julian Hight/Woodland Trust
Five generations of the Blanchard family have farmed the land, where the Bowthorpe Oak stands, since the 1940s.
George, who has lived and worked on the farm all of his life, said the oak “has always been part of family life”.
He said: “We have noticed changes in the past five years and are delighted that the funding will help us look after the tree to the best of our ability and with the correct expertise.”
The tree’s hollow trunk provides the perfect habitat to insects, birds and other animals. | Photo: Woodland Trust
Woodland Trust spokesperson Louise Hackett said: “The Bowthorpe Oak tree is a magnificent specimen. The size of it alone is a truly awesome sight but its appeal goes far beyond its grandeur, so we are delighted this funding will help to ensure it can be enjoyed for decades to come.
“The money from the Green Recovery Challenge Fund will also allow saplings from acorns of the oak to be planted in nearby fields to enrich the surrounding habitat, while new hedgerows will create a buffer zone and wooded corridors for wildlife.”
Meanwhile, the farm shop at the site is open to the public on weekends and bank holidays. Visitors are welcome to visit and see the impressive large tree, which is fenced off for protection.
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Nominations are open for schools and education settings to be recognised in the 2022 Lincolnshire Education Excellence Awards.
The event is organised by Stonebow Media, publishers of The Lincolnite, to celebrate the best school and teachers in Greater Lincolnshire.
The headline sponsors making the awards possible are Lincoln College Group.
Twelve categories are now open for nominations. The deadline for nominations is June 3, with a judging lunch scheduled for June 7.
Nominations are open from parents, carers, friends, families or education settings themselves, so if you know someone who deserving of winning now is the time to vote!
The awards ceremony will be held at the Engine Shed on July 7.
It’s been a week since the controversial statue of Margaret Thatcher was installed in Grantham’s St Peter’s Hill.
The £300,000 bronze monument immediately caused a stir and debate from both supporters and opponents of the first female Prime Minister of the UK.
Within hours of its 7am installation last Sunday, it had already been egged by a man later revealed to be 59-year-old Jeremy Webster, a deputy director at the Attenborough Arts Centre at the University of Leicester.
Mr Webster’s mother-in-law recently described his actions as “childish”.
Quoted in the MailOnline she said: “Margaret Thatcher lasted a long time in power. She was a trailblazer as the first woman prime minister and she had such energy, even though I know she slept very little.
“I’m very surprised to hear about all of this [egg throwing]. I’m going to have to call my daughter. I wouldn’t have thought Jeremy would be the sort of person to do this. It seems very childish to me – he has a responsible job.”
There have been reports of other antisocial behaviour taking place including people urinating up the statue, but investigations into these are yet to be confirmed by officials.
Away from the statue itself, others took to social media to react to the new monument.
Twitterer @BolsoverBeast thought Mr Webster’s actions should be expanded as a way to… get more people involved?
I think it would be a good idea to put Thatcher’s statue on a low loader and tow it slowly around the country so that we all have a chance to throw something at it. pic.twitter.com/uftMqr0LgR
— Chloe Schlosberg (@ChloeSchlosberg) May 19, 2022
Some called back to the fate of other statues
@Irritatedllama called back to the fate of slave trader Edward Colston who was thrown into the Bristol Harby in June 2020.
It's absolutely disgraceful that people are throwing eggs at the Margaret Thatcher statue in Grantham! We need to deploy a taskforce to give it jolly good wash!#Granthampic.twitter.com/RKftKUls4u
It wasn’t long before a parody account of the statue was set up on Twitter – nor before “she” was interacting with other parody accounts.
It was awful. I could see almost all of Grantham
— That Statue of Thatcher (@thatcher_statue) May 18, 2022
A… positive view?
There were supporters of the statue, however, Darren Grimes from GBNews was one of the few popular posts calling on people not to “give in to threats of petty vandalism”. He later posted the statue should be in parliament – where it was previously rejected from.
I honestly think Margaret Thatcher would have found this first round of petty vandalism of her statue to be utterly hilarious.
The statue looks absolutely glorious.
Almost a decade on from her passing, she’s still winding them up!
Some, like @Jonnyhibberd were more measured in their response.
I don't see a problem with a Thatcher statue and I also don't see a problem with people throwing eggs at it. Thatcher is an important part of our history, and so is what a lot of people thought about her.
— Jonathan Hibberd 🇺🇦 (@Jonnyhibberd) May 18, 2022
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