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The ancient estate of Ashton Court covers 850 acres
of woods and grassland with breathtaking views over the city of Bristol. This
historic park is one of the best spots to get away from the hustle and bustle
of the city - without leaving it at all. | Ashton
Court .
Photo - Bristol Film Office. |
The centre
piece of Ashton Court is the Manor House which was built by the Smythe family
who planted many of the unusual tree species on the estate.
Wooded
walks  Ashton
Court is a great spot for autumn trees including several unusual varieties.
The
Domesday Oak is one of the most famous trees in the park - it was chosen as one
of the nation's 50 greatest trees to mark 50 years of the Queen being on throne. The
tree is at least 900 years old which means it must be coming to the end of its
life - an old saying about oak trees is they take 300 years to grow, 300 years
to live and 300 years to die. It is a notable example of the estate's 500
veteran trees - home to the invertebrates for which the area has been designated
a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Another interesting tree is the Wellingtonia
which grows to be the largest trees in the world - during the autumn they start
be dropping their cones. The Smythe family planted them knowing that their
size would help break up the views of their coal mines in the valley beyond. Also
look for the Ginkgo, an ancient conifer believed to date back to prehistoric times,
which turns a beautiful lemon yellow in the autumn. The tree is believed
to have medicinal properties. Deer season  Out
in the open parkland visitors can find Ashton Court's biggest inhabitants - the
Red Deer.
These animals are Britain's biggest land mammal and probably one
of the loudest too. During the autumn listen for the bellow of this herd's
dominant stag - he roars to let the other males know that he's the boss because
autumn is the time of the rut. The rut is when females come into season
and are ready to be mated. Stags will mate with as many females as possible
- so where the hinds gather, the stags will also converge but only one male will
hold the ground at the centre of the harem. This top stag will fight off
competition from other males so that he is on hand the moment one of the hinds
come into season. She'll only be in season for a few hours so he needs
to be close at hand to mate with her and make sure other males are well away.
Usually roaring is enough but occasionally one of the bigger challengers
will fancy his chances and a fight can result. The Alpha male stag can
lose up to a third of his body weight during the rut with all the running about
and fighting. He rarely takes time to eat either, so intent is he on the
task in hand. As he becomes weaker, it's more likely the other will try
their hand and the fiercest fights can happen towards the end of the rut.
Jay birds  With
the rumble of the traffic in the background, listen for the call of the Jay in
the woods.
Autumn is the ideal time to come looking for these birds because
of the appetite they have for acorns. You'll certainly hear this bird before
you see it - one of the colloquial names for the Jay is "shreiker of the
wood". Every year these birds harvest the acorns from oak trees, which
Ashton Court is full of. They eat them on the spot and also carry them
off to bury them, creating a stash for later in the year when times are tough
and food less abundant. In the 1950's an ornithologist made a study revealing
that a single bird could stash away as many as 5,000 acorns in a season. That
means one very busy bird and this constant activity makes them particularly visible
during Autumn. The Jay's unique relationship with the oak tree is important
for the tree too which relies heavily on the bird to distribute its seeds. Although
some of the stashed food will be recovered by the birds during winter - many will
be forgotten or go unused - allowing them to germinate and colonise new areas.
Photo credits Ashton
Court photo courtesy of Bristol Film Office. Jay
image courtesy and copyright of RSPB Images and Nigel Blake.
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