Tree felling

The oak trees originally grew alongside a footpath; they were preserved when the houses were built and all were under tree preservation orders. However, two had become dangerous with the loss of most of the heartwood to rot and one was hollow. Despite this, they looked healthy. The scale of the problem only became apparent when men from the Kent Highways agency tested them with a computerised kit which mapped the path of soundwaves through the wood. Once they were felled it was possible to count the treerings and I found that both trees were close to 120 years old - probably all the others are the same age.