Copper beech

Tonight’s blog is going to be devoted to just one tree – but it is such a magnificent tree that it definitely deserves a blog all to itself.

It sits on the top of its hill looking down on the heath unrolling below it – a huge translucent rusty copper tent under which to shelter from both the sun and the rain.

I had always thought that the leaves of copper beeches were copper throughout but it appears that they only turn copper when the sun gets to them. Here under the canopy, the leaves are a delicate green.

Turning a dark burnished copper once they have been exposed to the sun.

Through the weeping branches you can see the boating pond in the distance….

Or you can just look up at magnificent canopy above your head.

And if you feel deprived of video, here is just a few minutes of prolific birdsong as we walked through the wood this afternoon.

(If you want to see the video you will need to click onto the blog as the email notification does not include the video.)

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