For a number of years, the dreaded Ash Dieback has been slow to take hold at Kings Weston. While other areas in the city were quickly decimated by this fungal disease the estate has been less quick in succumbing. We identified early signs it had arrived several years ago, and perhaps it’s the prevailing winds off the Severn have blown spores away and slowed it’s progress. However, it’s now very much caught up with us.

Whilst Ash was not commonly planted in the Kings Weston parkland in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century, it has become established, particularly since WWII and the institutional decline of the historic estate. There are of course some notable exceptions, huge mature trees that have established in Penpole Wood and elsewhere. Most, though, are of middling size and have thrived on neglect.
 
These more mature trees are now the victims of die-back, with many now showing advanced signs of ill health. Penpole Wood has recently been littered with fallen ash, or large boughs that have broken away from distressed trees. You’ll notice the ground around ash trees littered with leaves and dead twigs, and their canopies thinning and full of dead twigs and dying branches.
 
There are a series of dead or dying trees alongside the historic Viewing Terrace behind the Echo, a number on the Circle, and many more overhanging paths and public rights of around the estate. There is a genuine risk to the public from these dying trees, so we urge everyone to be aware, particularly during windy weather. We hope to go through the parkland soon with the parks team to discuss the problem and identify which trees may need to be dealt with and brought down before they fall.