Last Sunday, a small group of walkers met outside All Saints Church in Fulham and started their tour of the local area. We were led by Edward Parker, an expert on ancient trees, who has advised The Woodland Trust and in fact was responsible for helping to introduce the Woodland Trust into London. He also works closely with RHS Wisley and Kew Gardens along with WWF, having travelled the world exploring exceptional trees and their impact on our environment. When he learned about our charity he was happy to offer his services as our guide with just a nominal fee to pay his travel expenses and a donation to our cause. We learned about some of the great old trees in our neighbourhood, people were surprised to find out how little they knew about the area they had been living and walking in for more than twenty years! But most importantly, people developed their understanding of why having vegetation in our streets isn't just a 'nice to have'. It has a huge impact on us both directly, through flood water reduction, heat management, noise reduction, pollution reduction and also indirectly - our mental health, our ability to heal from physical and mental ailments is greatly increased when we surround ourselves with nature. If you are interested in our walking tours we are hoping to launch a series of them in the Spring, starting in West London where we held the last one and then perhaps 'branching' out to others parts of London where more fascination stories can be shared whilst strolling through some of London's most beautiful areas.
