From little acorns - Sherwood Forest's Major Oak

There comes a time when we all need a little support and the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest requires more than most. Mind you, the old fellow, if such he is, has a broad waistline of some 33 feet, weighs in at 22 tons and spreads his impressive arms to embrace 92 feet and thereby exclude all competitors. And one further statistic. He is no less than 1150 years of venerable age. If there was a Robin Hood, and Nottinghamshire's tourist trade fervently believes there was, he stood under these very limbs.

Here's another ancient specimen, windswept today, spreading his girth to match. There are many old trees in the forest, some having given up the ghost, others somewhat impossibly sprouting live branches from seemingly dead material. There are also young, lively specimens in one of England's most impressive ancient forests.

The forest is constantly reinvigorating itself. When the silvery birch have been and gone, the acorns and squirrels do their work.