This veteran Beech (fagus) was saved by mere centimetres, a casualty of ravenous ponies short of food, she'd be a goner like dozens of her sisters if completely ringed. A consequence of too many ponies for the forest to sustain, and the equine owners not providing supplementary food. The number of ponies has risen from around 1300 in the mid fifty's to near 5000 today, that's a lot of pressure on the forest. You'll see evidence of gnawing like this on individual Beech trees all over the forest, although Mark Ash is by far the worst cluster I know, so many beautiful trees slighted, in such a picturesque tract of the forest too.
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