Finding Hurst's oldest residents It's strange to think that the oldest residents in the village are not people, but trees. Some of the largest trees in Hurst are hundreds of years old and date back to the time when the area was part of the forest of Windsor.

It is thought that the UK may have up to 80% of all ancient trees in Europe, but these are rapidly disappearing. They face threats such as careless developers, industry and road building schemes.

To help protect the oldest trees in the Wokingham Town area, the 'Veteran Tree Project' was initiated. Volunteers have so far located and mapped over 230 trees with a diameter of more than 1 metre. A database has been created which will enable these trees to be monitored and protected.

Following this initial success, the project has been rolled out to other parishes within the District. The Parish Council and Hurst Village Society have jointly funded the project in Hurst. The money covers promotion, training, compilation and presentation of the results. The actual surveying will need to be done by volunteers. Volunteers will be trained to measure the girth of trees, record the results and pinpoint the tree with a grid reference.

Training sessions are planned for January and March 2007. Watch out for press releases in the local papers.

Anyone interested in volunteering for this worthwhile project should contact Janet Spiller on 0118 934 xxxx.