Mellington Lodge Oak
Nominator Cheryl Pugh
Cheryl with Buddy and the Mellington Lodge Oak June 2011.
When we moved into No. 1 Mellington Lodge in 1997, we undertook a big task to make the top patch of an overgrown garden that went with our home into a space for our three boys to play. The oak tree itself spread all across the garden. We put a rope ladder in the oak tree for our boys to climb, which I think is still there to this day. Mrs Evans, who owned the property, would often call in and talk about trees and nature in general. I told her about seeing the badgers playing on Offa’s Dyke Monument of an evening as it was getting dusk.
Hundreds of people walked through the gates every year - on the Offa’s Dyke Path - often stopping to talk and refill their water bottles. People came from all over the world. Some were just doing short walks; others were walking many miles in one day to try to complete the Dyke Path walk from one end to the other.
The most amazing sight was on opening the door early one morning and seeing army soldiers marching through the gates! It was such a wonderful sight to see, and I now wish I’d gotten my camera out.
The oak tree must have been planted there many years before the gatehouse was even built in the late 1800′s and that in itself is a beautiful thought.
I’m not sure exactly how old the tree is, maybe it’s over 350/400 years old?
The tree is recorded on the Ancient tree Inventory Tree No. 85711 and is 5.44-metres in girth
Cheryl with Buddy and the Mellington Lodge Oak June 2011.