Lime Avenue project
Rosliston’s horse chestnut avenue, known affectionately as ‘Conker Alley', is a local landmark on Burton Road, Rosliston. The Conker trees were planted some time around 1900-1920 and are reaching the end of their normal lifespan: some are fine but some have died.
A number of trees died around the same time in 2010-12. This prompted a strong community drive to keep an avenue as part of the approach to the village and to make it longer and even more beautiful.
Following discussions between the landowners and Derbyshire County Council, who are responsible for Highways it was decided that affected trees should be replaced with small-leaf lime trees.
After consultation with landowners a decision was made to try to create a lime avenue to grow up between the remaining horse chestnuts and gradually take over from them. The SDDC Environmental Education Project team, Forestry England and Rosliston Forestry Centre Community Group agreed to try and make it happen.
In 2012/13 Rolls-Royce plc adopted it as a community project. They worked very hard to determine permissions, positioning of utlities, precise land ownership and the number and poaitions of the new trees. With support from landowners and funding from the National Forest Company and Community Action Grants, a new, longer avenue was created.
The new avenue starts at Spring Farm Cottages, incorporates the original half mile of Conker Alley and extends another half mile along Burton Road past Rosliston Forestry Centre to the end of Walton Lane, Rosliston.
15 years after the project finished you can see how well the trees are established. Although still very young, you can get an idea of how magnicifent the avenue will be once it is mature! It will also provide shade, help manage the water table, provide a wonderful home for wildlife species and give joy to people who pass through it. Enjoy!
Young trees do need some care and ours are marked by tags or wooden shelters so that contractors doing hedge-cutting work do not accidentally trim the tops off them. This means that overhanging vegetation has to be trimmed back by hand each year so that light can get to the new trees. We are reviewing whether additional work needs doing in some areas to allow the trees to pull free of the confines of the thick hedges - watch this space.
The remaining Conker trees and the new Lime trees all have Tree Preservation Orders on them to help protect them and to ensure that any that die are replaced.
Further information about this project is available by emailing our Environmental Education Project team at rosliston@southderbyshire.gov.uk or by telephoning 01283 535039.
