The Mens / Nigel Symington

Author Tony Whitbread

Chief Executive

The sad loss of Oliver Rackham � one of the greatest contributors to the study of trees, woodlands and the landscape.

Oliver Rackham was one of my greatest inspirations.� Before his great work �Trees and Woodland in the British Landscape�, few of us had any idea about ancient woodland; we didn't understand how special they were, few realized that woods were managed and very few understood the great historical and cultural value of woodland. Oliver Rackham opened a whole library of rich new meaning to generations of people with an interest in woodland and landscape. His books were just becoming well known as I was developing my own interest in woodlands and his sudden death after collapsing at a dinner in Leckhampton leaves a great hole where there once was the leading authority on trees and woodlands.

Some great tributes have been paid to Oliver; see, for example posts by Keith Kirby and Ian Rotherham.