Description
An old beech pollard (Fagus sylvatica) among English bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) in Ecclesall Woods, Sheffield, South Yorkshire. A pollard is a tree that has had its branches selectively removed to provide timber, allowing it to regrow limbs above deer-grazing height. This keeps the tree in a juvenile state that prolongs its life and causes it to take on a highly distinctive form. This particular tree can be described as a ‘lapsed’ pollard, as it has not been cut for many decades.
