Storm Arwen devastated Wallington's tree population in November 2021. Winds of up to 98mph tore through the region and devastated 40 hectares of trees across the 20-square-mile Wallington estate. Among those lost were a 250-year-old oak, beech trees planted by Sir Walter Calverley Blackett in the 1800s and what was the only surviving larch tree from five given to the estate in 1738 by the Duke of Atholl. As well as these notable individual losses, whole, large woodland blocks were also razed to the ground.
The road to recovery: where to begin
The aftermath of the storm hit the local team particularly hard, both emotionally and in terms of the work needed to repair the damage. It was clear that a huge task lay ahead; working out where to begin was the just first in a line of many decisions needing to be made.
Amongst the first essential jobs were to reopen the property to visitors as soon as was safe to do so and to ensure that livestock across the estate were both secure and safe. The Wallington team carried out extensive tree assessments across the main visitor areas and began to clear paths, fell trees that were unsafe and assess the areas where greater time and support to clear were needed. Clearance and repair work is still taking place as will be the case for many months to come. External contractors with specialist equipment have supported the ranger team with a number of other more complex and remote areas of damage.