THE Crown Estate has backed down on its plan to fell the ancient oaks of Queen Anne’s Ride, Windsor Great Park. The decision follows protests from the World Wide Fund for Nature and the British Mycological Society. They pointed out that one of the threatened trees was one of four in Britain to host the endangered bracket fungus Phellinus robustus.
The 20 remaining 275-year-old trees will now be retained, Christopher Howes, the estate’s chief executive, announced earlier this week. Forty-eight younger trees will be retained or transplanted. Just three trees, dating from the 1920s, are to be destroyed.
