Damage to trees on Penrith’s Beacon Hill during Storm Eowyn was relatively minor and should result in future benefits for nature, the forester responsible for the area said this week.
According to Kelvin Archer, forestry and conservation manager for the owner of the land, Lowther Estates, many other woodlands across the country suffered much worse damage, especially in Scotland.
Trees covering about 3.5 hectares of the hill were blown over, but this is a small proportion of the 120 hectares of woodland which blankets the area. “We’re probably talking about 500 trees and it does look bad in places, but in the grand scheme of things it’s not that much,” said Kelvin.
Forestry teams had cleared access tracks through the woodland of fallen timber by hand within 40 hours of the storm’s end, apart from in one corner near Penrith’s cemetery. There, the large size of the collapsed tree trunks — up to 80cm in diameter — meant working in this way was unsafe and heavy machinery will have to be brought in to clear the blocked tracks.
This will be done when the machines are available, after the bird nesting season is over. “We’ll go in when we can, from September on, survey it and improve it for nature.” said Kelvin. “The timber will be taken to market, so it won’t be wasted.”
He warned that the forestry workers consider the area with large fallen trunks to be dangerous, since many of them are under stress and could shift without warning.
On a brighter note, the areas where trees have been blown over will be replanted with native species, rather than conifers, which should provide a more natural habitat for birds and other wildlife.
Kelvin added: “One of the other positives is that the fallen timber will create habitat over this next season. It’s not like the area has been clear felled, and birds do like windblow areas.”
Another area of woodland hit by the storm was Whinlatter Forest, near Keswick, where many popular footpaths and cycle routes were blocked by fallen timber. However, most have now been cleared and are again open to the public.
A spokesman for Forestry England, which runs Whinlatter, said: “Some diversions and individual trail closures are currently in place due to both storm damage and scheduled forestry operations works, but the long term impact on the forest has been minimal. Whilst most trails in the forest required closing temporarily, the majority are now clear and reopen.
“We would like to thank everyone who helped keep themselves and our staff safe in the immediate aftermath of Storm Éowyn and look forward to welcoming visitors back to the forest.”
