Among the Ancients: AWA Trees Visit Chatsworth’s Old Park

Earlier this spring, the full AWA Trees team spent a day visiting the Old Park at Chatsworth Estate as part of an Ancient Tree Forum event hosted by the Yorkshire & East Midlands Group.

It was a great opportunity to get the whole team together away from the day-to-day pace of consultancy work. Joining the trip were Liv, our Admin Manager, and Max, our newest recruit, alongside Adam, Lucy, James B, James G, Ross, Brandon and Joe. Some of the team were relatively local to the area, while others had travelled several hours to attend, but the beautiful spring weather and the quality of the site made the journey more than worthwhile.

The Old Park itself is a remarkable place. Hidden away from public access and managed with a deliberately light-touch approach, it has a very different feel to many historic parkland settings. Rather than being heavily managed or curated, the site has been allowed to develop naturally over long periods of time. Veteran trees that might elsewhere have been reduced or intensively managed have largely been left to adapt and evolve on their own terms.

One of the most striking aspects of the visit was seeing how ancient trees continue to respond to structural failure and decline. Limbs that had collapsed onto the ground had layered and produced new growth, effectively creating adjacent trees and prolonging the life of the tree indefinitely. It was a powerful reminder that, for veteran trees, decay and structural change are not always signs of failure, but often part of a long natural cycle of regeneration and habitat creation.

The visit also sparked some fascinating discussions around the idea of what actually constitutes a single tree. Conversations about fused stems and historically connected growth forms quickly moved beyond simple technical definitions and into wider questions about how we classify and understand ancient trees in the first place. It was the kind of open and thoughtful discussion that makes these events so valuable.

What stood out throughout the day was the passion and openness of the Chatsworth team. There was a clear pride in the site and its ecology, but also a genuine willingness to share ideas and learn from the collective experience of the group. Discussions ranged from veteran tree management and succession planting through to climate resilience and the challenges of managing such an ecologically important and changing landscape.

Just as importantly, the event was a chance to reconnect with familiar faces from previous Ancient Tree Forum events and the wider arboricultural community, including former AWA colleagues. The day went by all too quickly.

Visits like this are hugely important for our team. They provide the opportunity not only to expand technical understanding, but also to step back and reflect on the long-term value of these landscapes and the role ancient trees play within them. Seeing veteran tree management in practice within such a unique setting was both professionally valuable and personally inspiring for all of us who attended.

Our thanks go to the Ancient Tree Forum Yorkshire & East Midlands Group for organising the event, to Monica Gillespie for coordinating the day, and especially to the Chatsworth forestry and ecology team for sharing their knowledge, experience and enthusiasm with the group.