I’ve been visiting the forest for some time now, photographing and recording the veteran oaks. I'm passionate about trees, teach people about them, and am a verifier for the Ancient Tree Inventory. What I do is consider what’s going on with each tree – where it’s at in its veteran or ancient stage of growth, what life it has led and what it’s thinking ahead to do. I measure the girth of the tree, and make notes about what I see. Living or dead, there are things going on with each tree, wildlife to see and hear, and things to witness in the forest around. The more I contemplate each tree, the more I understand.

Discovering wild honeybee nests has come about through this, and has become another main focus of my time in the forest. As I explore new areas of forest and re-visit previously known areas, so I find more bee trees. The work is ongoing.

The plan is that eventually all of these trees will be on the Ancient Tree Inventory so that everyone can see them, learn from them, and appreciate how special they are.