The Luckmore/Betchworth Oak

For a sad update on this tree, see this article.

This Old Timer is stranded on an island between Luckmore Drive and Betchworth Avenue (Girth approx 4.93m)
Giving an age for a tree is an approximate, informed guess, but this one may have clocked up 300 years, or will do so in the near future.  It was situated near and to the east of what was, in 1883,  Home Farm (the Bowling Club in Beech Lane is a remnant of this);  at one time the line of the old Beech Lane, then known as Maiden Erlegh Lane, passed on the east side of the Bowling Club, but this was altered during the Enclosures some time in the 1800s to the present-day route of Beech Lane, exiting at Wilderness Road.

It may look rather the worse for wear, but it still sports a canopy, and gives a home to a sizeable number of creatures, large and small. The tree shows signs of becoming a veteran by losing its bark, and the bore holes of small invertebrates may be seen. It may have been pollarded, which would increase its age. Old trees are now considered of great importance to wildlife.

Thanks to Sheila Crowson for the details and pictures.