Kent Heritage Trees Project

The five year long Kent Heritage Trees Project ran between 2011 and 2016. It involved hundreds of people of all ages from across the region in an education and activity programme focused on Kent's rich stock of heritage trees. The project surveyed and recorded over 10,000 heritage trees across the county.

Read the final project report

Project aims

Aim 1: Promote the value of heritage trees
We ran 959 courses, workshops and educational activities promoting the value of Kent's heritage trees.
Aim 2: Identify, locate and record heritage trees
Volunteer tree surveyors identified, located and recorded 11,227 heritage trees across Kent.
Aim 3: Interpret and celebrate heritage trees
We ran celebration events, walks, talks and creative arts sessions; aimed at engaging new audiences.

I Am A Tree (by Molly Nobbs)

I am a tree.
I am an old tree.
I have heard many things.

I have heard
The first cry of a newborn baby
And the last laugh of an old man.

I have heard
A story told through generations,
The first song sung by a bird at the start of a new era
And the final battle cry of a terrible war.

 

I have heard the prayer of a traveller,
The language of a foreigner
And the swish of a paintbrush as a masterpiece is created.

I have heard the crackling of the earth’s crust in a violent earthquake,
The whisper of a secret
And the rolling waves of a great ocean.

I am a tree.
I am an old tree.
I have heard many things.

This poem is one of 60 pieces published in the Kent Heritage Trees poetry anthology entitled ‘Touch Wood’. All the poems were written by young people aged 8-11 who participated in the project’s Woodland Wonder educational workshops.