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         The Warpels Boys  



  

         Cloverhill Figs
 

       The embrace of       Cloverhill Figs
 

     The Boys at ground level

Click to enlarge the four photos above

____________________________

        The Explorers Tree
      North Queensland (1)



       The Explorers Tree
       North Queensland (2)

Mango Tree (1)



Mango Tree (2)
 

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Dear Tree Friends
As I know many of you are aware it has been my intention for almost two years to bring together like minded people in the cause of raising awareness
of the importance and value of older (often but not always larger) trees in our urban environment. This circular letter is the first step in what I suspect, based on the experience of similar groups overseas, will prove to be a long journey.
Sean Freeman.

Your Invitation to join the Veteran Tree Group
Open here (pdf 192 KB))


The desire to focus on consultation has resulted in me working increasingly in the SE corner of Queensland, where a combination of greater population, greater development pressures and more comprehensive local tree protection laws creates the demand for Consulting Arborists.

Although my family still lives in Townsville to the north, I spend three out of every four weeks based in the Gold Coast, and have as a result been exposed to a number of impressive veteran trees….

The pattern of early white settlement spreading gradually through the late 1880’s up the Queensland coast line and along the protected river valleys is reflected in the rapidly dwindling remnant vegetation…each big veteran Ficus stands testament to the desire by early settlers to have shade and fodder for cattle, whether the cattle was dairy, beef or bullocks the work engines of much of the rural activities in the late 1800’s.

The pictures of the two ex forest remnant figs Ficus macrophylla in the Numinbah Valley are extremely rare since very little of the pre-settlement forest exists today, the vast majority was cleared as a requirement of obtaining and retaining a lease on the land….the valuable timber trees of cedar and hoop pine had almost all been cut down decades before the arrival of wide scale farming.

The two remnant fig trees that I call them the Warples boys after the two brothers who owned the lots where they’re growing in the late 1880’s, were most likely retained for shelter and fodder for bullock teams that the Warples owned themselves and other cattle they egisted on their land for income.

Individual Veteran Figs stand as defiant sentinels marking some of the earliest connections between white settlers and the land, they are as Ted Green described ancient Oaks in the UK, time machines that can transport our minds back almost 200yrs to the hardships and struggle of early settler life.

It is incredible considering the extent of urban sprawl that has occurred (particularly in the last 30yrs) that any of these veterans have survived. The two Figs pictured at Clover Hill were planted as part of the old Clover hill Dairy near Mudgeeraba, thankfully they have been retained and protected in the middle of a public park area in the development

Despite what at times appears to be our deliberate efforts to destroy them a small population of veterans remains, and these trees need protection and specific management to ensure that they remain as living monuments for the next 200yrs for many more generations to enjoy, marvel at and literally feel a connection with our shared history.

Personal meetings with these trees has been a major driving force behind getting the Veteran Tree Group started in Queensland, and although we are a long way physically from friends and colleagues in the UK and Europe our Blog http://veterantreegroup.blogspot.com/ and Video Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/VeteranTreeGroup should enable anyone interested to follow the Aussie trials and tribulations.

Yours amongst the trees
Sean Freeman


Sean gives us a fascinating insight into his work:-

"The time frame of white settlement in Northern Australia strongly determines the age class of the trees we see and work with. There are very few truly ancient trees here, most have been long since felled or destroyed by the cumulative effects of urbanisation. There are no doubt older trees out in the bush but we very rarely get to see them; the distances involved in exploring the interior of our state are mind boggling! 

The first two photos are of a 260yr old Eucalyptus microtheca (coolabah) in the small township of Hughenden in Western Queensland. This tree was used as a way marker by two explorers Walker and Landsborough in their separate searches for the ill fated Burke and Wills expedition in the 1860's. The discovery of suitable pasture land in the region by William Landsborough led to settlers moving to the West and developing towns like Hughenden, I have written a management plan for the "explorers tree" which will hopefully prevent it from declining as rapidly as many younger historical trees in Queensland have. As I indicated in my first note,  the great work done in the UK by the Ancient Tree Forum has proved invaluable to me.

The second two photos are of a row of mango trees planted down the main street of a small township in North Queensland Halifax, planted in 1880's (therefore only 126yrs old) these trees mark one of the first civic improvements made by the emergent settler society in this small corner of the north. We prepared a management plan for the protection of these trees, after careful inspection and some minor works to remove dangerous deadwood over the main street. (Note the bitumen right up to the stems of the trees!!!)

I have used many different resources in my work with these veterans of the bush much of it from organisations such as yours to great effect and benefit for all. The work that has been done through Europe and especially Britain is especially important to Arborists working with veteran trees down under, so thank you."



Photos by Sean Freeman