Haslemere - Polecat Copse (Surrey)

King Kong - August 2006

Thanks to Luke who sent this picture of his friends beside this lovely Giant Redwood in Polecat Woods, Lion Lane. Luke says "I have found a huge redwood with a girth of 8.40m, it is very large but I have not been able to get a height measurement yet. We found quite a few up polecat forest, the next biggest was 6.55m round then 6.20m. Others we found varied from 4 to 6 feet but I'm sure there's some we missed, it's a big woodland."  Luke's friends standing next to the tree make a good comparison in size. The Tree-Register mentions Polecat Woods as "A sheltered valley woodland with some of England's tallest trees." T Rex - August 2006 Miles Stone - August 2006 Ant & Dec - August 2006 Ant - August 2006 Arm - August 2006 Luke and friends have put tremendous effort into getting even more photographs and measurements of the trees in his area including Black Down, Woolmer Hill and Marley Common. Thanks again Luke, and thanks also to Myles, Chris, Dom, Alex. Happy Redwood hunting!

Prince - September 2006

A visit in 2006 to Polecat Copse allowed us to confirm that these trees are among the widest so far recorded in the U.K.

King Kong and T-Rex trees - June 2007 Eden - May 2008 King Kong from afar - May 2008 Coast Redwood - May 2008

Luke sent an update in May 2008. He said that he "Had a quick look round polecat today, revisiting old ones I had found. I found a few new ones, only one of any size (Eden tree), about 5.2 meters in girth. The others I saw were only small, 3m or less. There are 9 Sequoias in the Polecat area larger than 5m in girth (that I have found, I presume there are more on private land etc). I also came across what I thought was a Coast Redwood it was probably about 4.5m girth, but I didn't measure it. One of the photos show the King Kong tree from far away where you can see its huge base (seems to have got bigger because ground around it seems lower now) and its top from one place, I think it's one of the tallest trees in the forest about 45m or so. There are many tall Douglas Firs in the forest too."

It does appear to be a Coast Redwood based on the foliage and on the overall appearance and shape of the tree. Here is Luke's own table of names and measurements of many of the Redwoods in Haslemere (I like the tree names!): # Sequoia Name Location Girth (M) Height (M) On Redwood World Date Measured 1 King Kong Polecat 8.5 No Yes 2006 2 Two In One Black Down 8 No Yes 2006 3 Tall Tree Black Down 7.5 No Yes 2006 4 Chase Lodge Woolmer Hill 7.3 No Yes 2006 5 Woolmer Hill Woolmer Hill 7.2 No Yes 2006 6 Front Garden Black Down 7.1 No Yes 2006 7 14People Black Down 7 No Yes 2006 8 Short Black Down 6.9 No Yes 2006 9 Unamed Woolmer Hill 6.7 No Yes 2006 10 Near Woolmer Hill Woolmer Hill 6.3 No Yes 2006 11 Prince Polecat 6.1 No Yes 2006 12 Arm Polecat 6 48 Yes 2006 13 T-Rex Polecat 5.9 No Yes 2006 14 Dec Polecat 5.7 No Yes 2006 15 Ant Polecat 5.6 No Yes 2006 16 Gibbet Hill Polecat 5.5 No Yes 2006 17 Miles Stone Polecat 5.4 47 Yes 2006 18 Redwood Manor Haslemere:On Roads 5.4 31 Yes 2006 19 Eden Polecat 5.2 No No 2008 20 Marley Lane Haslemere:On Roads No No Yes No 21 Grey Hindhead No No No No 22 Waysprings Haslemere:On Roads No No Yes No 23 Round Hindhead No No No No 24 Large Limbs Hindhead No No No No 25 Sequoia Grove Marley Common No No Yes No 26 Sequoia Grove Marley Common No No Yes No 27 Sequoia Grove Marley Common No No Yes No 28 Sequoia Grove Marley Common No No Yes No 29 Sequoia Grove Marley Common No No Yes No 30 Sequoia Grove Marley Common No No Yes No

Common Names and Latin Name	No.	Latitude and Longitude		OS National Grid	Elevation (above sea-level)	Height	Girth	Date Measured	Luke's Tree Name
		WGS84	OSGB36
Giant Redwood, Wellingtonia Sequoiadendron giganteum	1	N51.09854 W0.73673	N51.09799 W0.73521	SU 88553 34007	594ft (181m)	--	6.1m	September 2006	Prince
	2	N51.09942 W0.73549	N51.09887 W0.73397	SU 88638 34106	559ft (170m)	--	5.5m	September 2006	Ant
	3	N51.09936 W0.73554	N51.09881 W0.73402	SU 88635 34099	559ft (170m)	--	5.63m	September 2006	Dec
	4	N51.10011 W0.73524	N51.09956 W0.73372	SU 88654 34183	579ft (177m)	--	8.2m	September 2006	King Kong
	5	N51.10011 W0.73525	N51.09956 W0.73373	SU 88653 34183	579ft (177m)	--	5.92m	September 2006	T-Rex
Girth was measured at 1.5m from ground.