Hob Hey Wood Friends Group are celebrating the planting of a tree in the wood.

You might be wondering why we are celebrating this when the wood is already full of trees!

Well, it's quite a special tree.

In the 1970s, Britain saw a mass "dying off" like none other in recent times. In less than 20 years, a distressingly small amount of time compared to the lifetime of a tree, millions of elms were wiped out by Dutch elm disease.

The landscape of Britain was changed drastically. A once-common butterfly, the white-letter hairstreak, which is totally dependent on elms, was disastrously affected with the population reducing by 99%.

Today, there are very few mature elms in Britain, as the disease is still killing trees and the white-letter hairstreak is still rare. Last year we found that elms and white-letter hairstreaks still live in Hob Hey!

Dutch elm disease is still killing the wood's elms, however, so the butterfly's future is uncertain.

Last autumn, Tom Blundell, who is a tree warden, was made aware of a competition run by the Tree Council to win one of 30 disease-resistant elms and suggested that Hob Hey Wood Friends apply.

He explained that, as the name suggests, these trees are 100% resistant to Dutch elm disease.

If only we could get one of the trees, we could ensure the future of elms and white-letter hairstreaks in Frodsham's ancient woodland.

With the help of David Ellwand, Wirral Tree Warden Coordinator, Clare Olver of the Mersey Forest, and the support of Frodsham's Mayor, Caroline Ashton, we prepared an application and submitted it.

In December we received the thrilling news that we had been successful in winning one of the elms!

We were planning a tree planting ceremony but Covid restrictions prevented this. So, on 8 March, Tom Blundell and Mark O'Sullivan, Chair of Hob Hey Wood Friends Group, visited the wood and planted the tree.

Our disease resistant elm is now in its new home.

Caroline Ashton said "It's very impressive that Hob Hey Wood Friends Group won one of only 30 of these trees in the country and it's a tribute to the hard work they've been putting into the wood."

Hopefully, our tree will thrive, grow to a majestic height of 50 feet, and produce many more disease resistant elms in the process which will be colonised by one of the rarest butterflies in Cheshire.