And then there were four (and Cas). A final trek up High Force before everyone went their own way.

Arb awards and the New Inn

Loose Ends.

Hi jinks and Jolly Japes as ND2 Arb play with an assortment of hammers, spades, bits of timber and sharp pointy things.

Thinning sycamores in Flass Vale local nature reserve. These ladybirds look like Orange Ladybirds from the pictures at The Harlequin Ladybird Survey website. This cluster was found on a very young beech tree. Come to think about it - they look a bit like the ladybird I found at Gibside on the felted beech scale.

Roadside tree planting at the Nest Roundabout on the A72 between Galashiels and Innerleithen.

There are Prunus Kanzan, P. 'Tai Haku', P. avium 'Plena', P. 'Kiku-Zakura', and perhaps some others.

Roadside tree planting on stretches of the A66 Trans-Pennine route. These are taken at a few spots just a few miles west of Scotch Corner

Tree planting work at Hamsterley Forest

We returned to Bill Quay Community Farm to plant a hedgerow of Hawthorn, Field Maple, Hornbeam and Holly.

Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park is part of the Tees Forest.

Surveying mature Acer pseudoplatanus, Sorbus intermedia, Ulmus glabra and Fraxinus excelsior in a suburban Sunderland street.

As part of Urban Forestry and Community Woodland modules we had to walk around the woodland near the cathedral and river and look at its management. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it.

Community Woodland: Walters Wood is a Woodland Trust wood near Ouston, County Durham

British Native trees and shrubs are my usual trees of choice and most of my garden is managed for wildlife. But since starting the arb course one non-native has grabbed my imagination; Cercidiphyllum japonicum, The Katsura tree. I bought this one from Trees Online. This is a good shopping site for trees but you have to endure their cretinous newsletters for ever after.

Sitting in Blackfriars I noticed through the (arched) window, people scuffling around under a leafy tree. At first I thought they were collecting conkers. Couldn't identify it at a distance, but had to investigate. Turns out to be a walnut. Genus Juglans but don't know the species.

A great arboretum. Third visit now and it gets better every time.

A hedgerow planting project for the Bill Quay Community Farm

I've had a few pretty grotty commutes in my career and seen enough of the M25 and Thelwall Viaduct to last me a lifetime.

My current commute isn't too bad.

Thinning out conifers on Hedleyhope Fell, part of the Durham Wildlife Trust

I ran the Great North Run in aid of the British Heart Foundation, raising £200 in sponsorship. A big chunk of this was donated by classmates and teachers in the Arb department at Houghall College. Thank you all, you know who you are!

Wild Flowers at Gibside

Various images - no general category

Zip Line Out

Conifers in final ident of the year. All from Houghall Arboretum.

Setting up the Zip Line for the Open Day on sunday. Of course, it's going to need testing ...

The sun came out, and the copper beeches were a nice place to be.

Winches, Strimmers, Saws, Planes, Trains, Automobiles ...

Gibside is a large National Trust Forest Garden in the North East of England.

There is some disquiet at the unexpected appearance of excavation work for two paths through the college Arboretum. Trenches have been carved from the bus stop and pedestrian crossing on the main road, through the arboretum and into the college.

Trees and Shrubs with Winter Interest

Soil Science

Planting of birch trees outside museum. Presumably Betula utils var. jacquemontii or similar.

This collection contains images of unidentified or unconfirmed species. Please leave comments if you can confirm an ident. Or leave a message, or email me on dougie@highmoor.co.uk. Thanks.

The felling site at Burnopfield. Pictures are a bit rubbish because of poor light (in a wood after all). I've decided it's not a good idea to take flash photography when standing near someone wielding a buzzy buzzy thing with a sharp whizzy whizzy bit on the end.

General photos from the arboretum that don't fit anywhere else.

Kielder Forest

Skyspace doesn't do much for me. We've visited it twice now and each time my main impression was of a clinical and antiseptic feeling interior. Whenever I see the words Challenge the visitors perceptions used to describe a piece of artwork I grind my teeth down a little more. Perhaps I need to revisit just before dawn or after sunset to get the light as the artist intended.

Skedaddle is just bonkers and doesn't seem to take itself quite as seriously.

Q decides to maintain a Husky that is in great need of TLC. But there is a prize ...

Fantastic weather for an end-of-term visit to Chopwell wood. Clear skies and sunlight low in the sky creating gorgeous effects amongst the frosty woodland. We would've had longer but unfortunately the minibus had needed a drink of diesel and the previous driver hadn't got their round in.

Trees that have a degree of pollution tolerance. All from Houghall Arboretum

Trees from the Arboretum at Houghall College.

Walk around High Wood for Pests and Diseases. None of these photos have been labelled as I'm not sure what all the fungi are.

Trees from the Arboretum at Houghall College. These could probably do with subdividing: Autumn Colour, pollution tolerant, shrubs etc.

Arboriculture related photos, images and scans.

Tree Idents for autumn colour

Some images from the trees from our garden in Lytham St Annes. I took these pictures after reading about the research at Myerscough College where the late Alan Reeves was then asking for help in investigating the extent of its spread in Lancashire.

There is more information about diseases affecting Aesculus hippocastanum at the Forest Research website.