Patrick Comerford
For reasons that I cannot even explain to myself rationally, I wanted to go back to Winslow in Buckinghamshire earlier this week, grasping the opportunities provided by the surprisingly early summer sunshine, to take photographs for my blog and my social media pages at Comerford Way, which has provided a catching rebranding and name for this blog.
But while I was there I also found myself paying attention once again to the Cappadocian Maple at the point where Comerford Way meets Station Road and McLernon Way.
This tree is the sixth largest tree of this species found in these islands. It is believed that this Cappadocian Maple in the open green area at Comerford Way is one of the earliest of these trees to be introduced into Britain, as early as 1838 – more than a decade before the railway came to Winslow and Station Road was developed.
In the wild, the Cappadocian Maple is found in ancient Cappadocia in Turkey, east along the Caucasus and the Himalayas, into south-west China. It is one of the few maples that regrows from around the base of the trunk.
It is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 20-30 metres tall with a broad, rounded crown. The five to seven-lobed, pointed, glossy green leaves turn a rich yellow in autumn and the leaf stalks exude a milky sap when broken. Clusters of small yellow-green flowers in early spring are followed by winged seeds.
Appropriately for the unusual weather we have been experiencing in England in recent weeks, this tree is tolerant of drought and it grows on a wide variety of soils. The thicket of narrow stems around the tree grow from the roots and they are a typical feature of this species.
Banner Homes, Sutton Homes and AVDC, who have developed some of the modern housing around Comerford Way and the other streets in this part of Winslow, co-operated in protecting the tree during building work, and cuttings from the tree have been propagated and grown in local schools and on nearby open spaces. The mature trees on the site are protected by a Preservation Order issued 29 years ago in 1997.
Comerford Way off Station Road is named after Denis Comerford (1908-1994), the last railway signalman to work at Winslow Railway Station almost 60 years ago. So I could say, with mixed pride and much humour, that the Cappadocian Maple at the entrance to Comerford Way is, in more ways than one, a true part of the family tree.
I decided to ramble back into Winslow through streets and walkways that I had never known before and unexpectedly found myself at Tomkins Park and Arboretum, a hidden gem of five acres that was once the northern part of the gardens of nearby Winslow Hall, and with a fine selection of trees including another Cappadocian Maple and a rare Laurel Leaved Oak, the only one known in Buckinghamshire. The tree has been officially designated by the Tree Register for the United Kingdom as a Champion Tree for Buckinghamshire.
Winslow Town Council bought the park from Julian Tomkins and the Tomkins estate in 2013 with the support of a grant from the New Homes Bonus scheme administered by Aylesbury Vale District Council.
The park was originally part of the Winslow Hall estate, which had several owners over 250 or more years before it was bought by Sir Edward and Lady Tomkins in 1959. At the time, Winslow Hall was threatened with demolition, but the Tomkins family carefully and sympathetically restored the house and improved the garden behind it, planting specimen trees and shrubs.
Sir Edward Tomkins entered the Diplomatic Service shortly before the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, and joined the army in 1940. He was posted to the Middle East, and was a liaison officer with the Free French forces. He was taken prisoner at Bir Hacheim in the Libyan desert south of Tobruk, and later was held as a prisoner-of-war in northern Italy. He was also a man of resourceful courage, as was borne out by his escape from the prisoner-of-war camp in Italy and his 800 km trek to Bari to rejoin the allied forces.
He spent most of his post-war career in Europe, where he was completely at home, speaking faultless German and Italian. He met his wife, Gillian Benson, in Paris and they married in 1955.
Sir Edward’s final diplomatic post was as Ambassador to France in 1972-1975, when he took a leading role in the negotiations for Britain to join what was then the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973. When he retired from the Diplomatic Service in 1975, the couple moved permanently to Winslow Hall, and she planted many of the trees seen in the park today. Lady Tomkins died in 2003, Sir Edward Tomkins died in 2007.
A wealth of trees from various parts of the world can be seen in the park, which owes much to the 17th and 18th century plant hunters who travelled the world to collect new and undiscovered species of trees and shrubs. The park and arboretum opened in November 2016, and remain open to the public free of charge.
The park has numbered signs for 24 of the more unusual trees in the collection:
Black Locust
Cedar of Lebanon
Western Red Cedar
Cider Gum
Dawn Redwood
London Plane
Laurel Leaved Oak
Japanese Larch
Red Horse Chestnut
Hungarian Oak
Raywood Ash
Katsura Tree
Norway Maple ‘Crimson King’
Swamp Cypress
Black Poplar
Northern Red Oak
Silver Maple
Blue Atlas Cedar
Sweet Chestnut
Brewer’s Weeping Spruce
Giant Redwood or Wellingtonia
Deodar Cedar
Cappadocian Maple
Japanese Pagoda Tree
There are explanatory signs close to most of the important specimen trees, and I spent an hour or so moving from one tree to the next, reading about their origins and derivation. Although I spent precious parts of my early childhood on my grandmother’s farm in rural West Waterford, I grew up not knowing the names of trees, apart from willow trees and chestnuts, so this peaceful hour earlier this week was also an education in itself.
Winslow is about 16 km south of Stony Stratford and only 40 minutes away by bus through Buckingham. Tomkins Park probably remains unseen by and unknown to many people who pass through Winslow by bus or car, yet this ‘Secret Garden’ is only a two or three-minute easy stroll east of the High Street.
After an hour or so in the park, I had seen only half of these specimen trees. I continued back into Winslow and sat outside Crumbs Café, on the corner of High Street and Sheep Street, with a double espresso and watching the traffic and the world go by. While this summer lasts, I must get the bus back to Winslow and return to Tomkins Park to continue my education in the names of trees.
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