When you see huge Beech in the forest with multiple smaller (though still substantial) trunks emerging from the main trunk a couple of meters from the ground you can be pretty sure you're looking at an ancient tree, one which easily pre-dates the end of the 17th century. You can know that as in 1698 it was forbidden by government act, the ‘Act for the Increase and Preservation of Timber in the New Forest’ to coppice or pollard the forests' Oak or Beech, so a pollarded tree would've already been mature and pollarded by then. Making these trees, what, 400 or more years old. Those who've survived thus far are reaching the limits of their lifespans; interestingly a pollarded Beech will live considerably longer than one left untouched, this is common of various managed trees. The usual course of decline is for them to lose trunk after trunk over a number of years, although even then with all the crown trunks fallen I've seen them endure by throwing out growth from what remains. This old lady's lost three crown trunks so far, though still stands firm. Remember when you're with them you're stood with a life which broke earth long before even the dawn of the industrial revolution, let alone the modern age.
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