Walk This Way: Veteran Trees of Love Lane and the Winterbourne
Saturday 24 May 2025 – 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Led by Jonathan Vernon
We gathered outside The Swan Inn in Lewes at 2:00 p.m.—seven of us ready to explore the hidden ecological richness of Love Lane, the Winterbourne stream, with a loop over the Brighton Road to Houndean Rise and back via Clevedown and Bell Lane.
Our focus was the veteran and notable trees that shape this historic, biodiverse corridor—some documented on the Ancient Tree Inventory, others still awaiting recognition. We examined ash, field maple, sycamore, oak, horse chestnut, hawthorn, silver birch, London plane, and a magnificent wild black poplar with tape measures.
A Living Classroom in Lewes
I introduced the walk by sharing my ongoing work with The Woodland Trust, Lewes Town Council, and the Markstakes Common veteran tree surveys. We discussed the Woodland Trust’s classification system—what makes a tree notable, veteran, or ancient, and why these categories matter for conservation.
We looked for key veteran features:
- Hollow trunks and decaying wood
- Water pockets and aerial roots
- Stag-headed crowns and signs of fungi
- Bark fissuring, mosses, and rich epiphytic life
Along the way, we referenced scale visuals and species-specific girth estimations, noting how a tree’s ecological value is not always visible at first glance.
Love Lane: Hidden in Plain Sight
Once part of a grazed boundary, Love Lane became a community woodland in 1984, thanks to Friends of Lewes. The tree population here—dominated by ash, sycamore, and field maple—has naturally regenerated and been shaped by historic coppicing.
Among the highlights:
A field maple (2.61m) with a hollowed base and a large, ageing Dryad’s Saddle mushroom (Polyporus squamosus)—broad as both hands spread, flabby and mature at the base of an ash stump.
A multi-stem ash (3.50m) with one stem dead, another hollow and crumbling, and a third still throwing new growth—resilience in action.
A horse chestnut (3.30m) straddling the edge of an old boundary paddock, offering cavities and crown decay for bats and birds.
Several trees with hollowing stems, fragmented crowns, and decay habitats for saproxylic beetles, mosses, and fungi.
We paused beside one lovely ash stump along Love Lane where, just yesterday, I had spotted the giant bracket fungus Dryad’s Saddle in its base. I shared its ecological role and encouraged the group to treat all deadwood as living ecosystems in their own right.
Under the Railway: The Veteran Corridor
Passing beneath the railway line—cut through in 1846 and bisected again in 1977 by the Lewes bypass—we emerged into the stretch where the Winterbourne stream still flows, sheltered by trees that have held on despite isolation and pressure.
Here we saw:
Veteran ash with girths of 3.14m, 3.78m, and even 4.01m, some with multiple stems and signs of past storm or human damage.
A field maple with ivy-thick trunks and evidence of old coppicing.
Jelly Ear fungus (Auricularia auricula-judae) thriving on a toppled ash remnant.
King Alfred’s Cakes (Daldinia concentrica) in dry, dead stems.
A natural ash pollard showing classic wildlife signs—moss cushions, bark flaking, and likely bat roosts.
Crossing Brighton Road to Cranedown
We closed the walk beside some well-established trees near Brighton Road and up toward Houndean Rise:
We looked at two unremarkable sycamores acting as ‘gateway trees’ into Lewes and then a steep north-facing bank off the Brighton Road – Veteran Ash (3.70m)
With a girth of 3.70m, it forms a multi-stemmed structure—possibly a former coppice stool or a tree regrown from storm damage.
Its entirely hollow trunk, scattered deadwood on the ground, and decaying canopy place it firmly in the veteran category, perhaps even tipping into ancient, primarily when judged by form rather than age alone.
This ash would benefit from haloing—clearing competing vegetation to give it space and light, prolonging its life and supporting its dependent species. It plays a role in early-season nectar supply and supports many moth larvae and saproxylic insects.
Struck by its form, one walker took out a sketchbook and began drawing. It was the perfect cue for me to bring out a dozen drawings made from earlier field sketches of the veteran trees we’ve encountered across Lewes and Markstakes Common. It was a quiet moment of connection between people, trees, and the impulse to record.
We concluded the walk by walking down Houndean Lane towards Landport Bottom to look at a pair of common hawthorns over 1.8m in girth—slow-growing, dense, and full of ecological character.
Then, Coming back via Houndean Rise, we stopped to admire a striking silver birch (1.91m)—uncommon in urban edge settings but thriving here between footpath and road.
The options then may have been to look at a couple of trees in front of H M Prison Lewes or the weeping ash, Monterey pine, and beech by Clevedown House. Surely, these are landscape garden trees of a former grand tree.
Finally, we came back by the Winterbourne to Bell Lane, picking out more field maple, sycamore, and ash by the dry bed of the stream to look at a huge and rare gem: a wild black poplar (4.5m)—massive and culturally resonant, clinging to old wetland ground.
Reflections & Final Thoughts
These trees are more than features in the landscape—they are repositories of time, biodiversity, and environmental memory. The value of retaining and recording them—especially the unregistered ones—is enormous. Our walk reminded us of the richness hidden in overlooked lanes and urban fringes.
Thanks to everyone who joined me. I’ll upload our new records to the Woodland Trust Ancient Tree Inventory and continue mapping work for the Trees of Lewes Project.
A final thought on this veteran ash. The before and after photographs say it all.
Veteran Tree Care – Best Practice in Brief
Standing here by this heavily cut-back ash, we’re reminded of what not to do. Veteran trees need a different kind of care—one rooted in respect for their ecological role and ageing process.
1. Retain and Respect
Veteran trees should be kept wherever possible, with their value recognised from the start—not treated as obstacles or risks.
2. Avoid Harsh Cuts
Topping or cutting back at arbitrary points—like we see here—damages the tree’s natural defences. Better to let it retrench naturally, step by step, just as it would in the wild.
3. Deadwood is Goodwood
Hollow trunks and decaying limbs aren’t faults—they’re features. They support fungi, insects, birds, and bats. Monitor, don’t panic.
4. Protect the Roots
The roots are the tree’s lifeline. No digging, fires, or trampling near the base. Use woodchip mulch if needed to protect the soil and fungal networks.
5. Call in the Right Expertise
Not all arborists are veteran tree specialists. Use people trained in conservation arboriculture and follow guidance from the Ancient Tree Forum or The Woodland Trust.
This ash may survive—but it has been wounded unnecessarily. Veteran trees aren’t liabilities—they are living heritage, and they need champions, not chainsaws.
Footnotes:
Saproxylic Invertebrates – The Hidden Life of Decay
Saproxylic (from the Greek sapros meaning “rotten” and xylon meaning “wood”) refers to animals—mostly insects—that rely on decaying wood during part of their life cycle. These creatures are vital to the health of woodland ecosystems and act as indicators of habitat quality and continuity.
Who are they?
- Beetles: Especially longhorn beetles, rove beetles, and jewel beetles.
- Hoverflies: Their larvae often develop in water-filled rot holes or decomposing organic matter.
- Woodlice, springtails & millipedes: Essential decomposers that help break down wood fibres and leaf litter.
- Moths: Some species’ caterpillars feed on soft, rotting wood.
- Spiders & predatory beetles: Thrive in the cavities and crevices around deadwood.
Why do they matter?
- Nutrient cycling: By breaking down deadwood, they release nutrients back into the soil.
- Food web support: They feed birds, bats, amphibians, and other woodland predators.
- Habitat indicators: Rare saproxylic species often point to ancient woodland or long-standing deadwood presence.
- Pollination: Some adults, like hoverflies, are essential nectar feeders and pollinators.
Why conserve them?
Many saproxylic invertebrates are nationally scarce or red-listed—threatened by:
- The loss of veteran trees and unmanaged deadwood.
- Over-tidied woodlands where stumps, snags, and rot holes are removed.
What helps?
Retaining hollow trunks, rotting branches, fallen logs, and sunlit woodland edges is essential. These features provide not just shelter but complex lifecycles and interdependent relationships.
Veteran trees, like hollowing ash or a fragmented field maple, aren’t just surviving—they’re hosting an entire community of woodland specialists. Saproxylic invertebrates are their most loyal tenants and nature’s slow recyclers.
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