This morning was cold but bright and a group of us met at Woodlands Park in Norwich for a tree identification walk, led by Paul Holley from Norwich City Council and Paul Woodhouse from The Woodland Trust.

Woodlands Park is six and a half acres of woodland plus a small area of grass on Dereham Road in Norwich, opposite the junction to Waterworks Road and behind the buildings of Norwich Community Hospital on Bowthorpe Road (view map). It is a County Wildlife Site.

The area has been a park since 1904, when it was donated to the city of Norwich by the sister of the late Robert Fitch, JP, an antiquarian who had purchased the wood in 1867 as an extension to his land at The Woodlands, his property on the other side of Dereham Road.

The big oak

The wood, once known locally as Stonehills Plantation, has a sparse ground flora but contains a good selection of trees. Beech and Sycamore trees predominate but there are Sweet Chestnuts, Scots Pine, Holly, Hornbeam, Silver Birch and Elm, including stands of regenerating growth and a few larger trees. There are several Oaks, one of which is particularly fine and may be a former boundary marker, as its branches sweep outwards as if it originally grew in a more open area rather than woodland.

Shrubs include Wild Privet, Field Maple, Elder and, less welcome, some Cherry Laurel. Some small Yew trees have established themselves in the wood, possibly from seeds carried by birds from Earlham Cemetery.

The walk was organised by Friends Of Woodlands Park, a group formed last year by local residents who wish to improve and develop this small but diverse woodland area as an education resource and a community leisure facility.

By the end of the walk our fingers and toes were very chilly but we’d had a really good walk, thanks to the enthusiasm and knowledge of our walk’s leaders and those taking part.