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61-617: Thetford Forest is the largest lowland pine forest in Britain and is located in a region straddling the north of Suffolk and the south of Norfolk in England . It covers over 19,000 ha (47,000 acres) in the form of a Site of Special Scientific Interest . Thetford Forest was created after the First World War to provide a strategic reserve of timber, since the country had lost so many oaks and other slow-growing trees as

122-446: A central axis are microsporophylls (modified leaves). Under each microsporophyll is one or several microsporangia ( pollen sacs). The female cone ( megastrobilus , seed cone , or ovulate cone ) contains ovules which, when fertilized by pollen, become seeds. The female cone structure varies more markedly between the different conifer families, and is often crucial for the identification of many species of conifers. The members of

183-446: A closed, damp cone of suitable size is inserted into a narrow-mouthed bottle and allowed to open upon drying. Cone cows are traditional homemade toys , made by children using material found in nature. The most common design is a spruce or pine cone with sticks or matches for legs, which can easily be attached by forcing them between the cone scales. Playing with cone cows often includes building an animal enclosure from sticks. For

244-465: A consequence of the war's demands. It is managed by Forestry England . The creation of the forest destroyed much of the typical Breckland environment of gorse and sandy ridges, ending the frequent sand blows (where the wind picked up sand and blew it across the land reducing visibility). However, this environment was itself man-made, since the area had been denuded by flint-mining , the construction of rabbit warrens and other activities. Grime's Graves

305-421: A fire control measure. Besides oak and beech a wide variety of species including lime , walnut , red oak and maple have been established. As the trees became established and were approximately 20 feet high all side shoots up to six feet were removed. This process called brashing ensured easy access, less risk of fire and the first six feet of the tree had a reduced knotty core. The next stage after brashing

366-474: A harvested pine cone from some string outside to measure the humidity of the air. Members of the Araucariaceae ( Araucaria , Agathis , Wollemia ) have the bract and seed scales fully fused, and have only one ovule on each scale. The cones are spherical or nearly so, and large to very large, 5–30 cm diameter, and mature in 18 months. For most species they disintegrate at maturity, to release

427-481: A highly modified branchlet . On the upper-side base of each seed scale are two ovules that develop into seeds after fertilization by pollen grains. The bract scales develop first, and are conspicuous at the time of pollination; the seed scales develop later to enclose and protect the seeds, with the bract scales often not growing further. The scales open temporarily to receive pollen, then close during fertilization and maturation, and then re-open again at maturity to allow

488-515: A large population of hares, rabbits and gamebirds. Several species of deer also reside there, muntjac , roe deer and a small population of red deer , the last hunted by the Norwich Staghounds before deer hunting was outlawed. The forest is well known for its scarce breeding birds, such as woodlarks , nightjars , goshawks , crossbills , siskins as well as an introduced population of golden pheasants . All of these can be found at

549-635: A location for the BBC series Dad's Army . The Roman road , known as Peddars Way leads from the north Norfolk coast and reaches its end in Thetford Forest, near Knettishall . Other walking routes in the Forest connect to it. There is also a walk way through the trees called ' Go Ape '. There is a Center Parcs holiday resort at Elveden which also brings many visitors. The British Siberian Husky Racing Association hold several husky racing events in

610-536: A separate family (Taxodiaceae) in the past. In most of the genera, the cones are woody and the seeds have two narrow wings (one along each side of the seed), but in three genera ( Platycladus , Microbiota and Juniperus ), the seeds are wingless, and in Juniperus , the cones are fleshy and berry -like (known as galbuli ). The cones and seeds of Sciadopitys (the only member of the family) are similar to those of some Cupressaceae, but larger, 6–11 cm long;

671-576: A steeply undulating section called "The Beast" at the end of the Lime Burner Trail. National cross-country cycling races are held in the forest. There is also a recently formed organisation called TIMBER (Thetford Improved Mountain Biking EnviRonment) which aims to work with Forestry England to improve the mountain bike trails in the forest. Annual concerts from notable musicians including Pulp and Jools Holland are held in

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732-410: A traditional part of the arts and crafts of cultures where conifers are common. Examples of their use includes seasonal wreaths and decorations, fire starters, bird feeders, toys, etc. An intriguing derivation of the impossible bottle mechanical puzzle takes advantage of the fact that pine cones open and close based on their level of dryness. In constructing the pine cone in the bottle display,

793-556: A wide range of measures including the importance of wildlife and the forest to be visually pleasing and culminated in May 1990 with forest designated as a Forest Park. The growing importance of recreation was reflected with the opening of the High Lodge visitor centre in 1992. Conservation in the management of the forest has greatly increased and by 1991 a Conservation Panel made up of experts in various relevant fields had been set up. Within

854-448: Is 0.5–3 cm long, and the seeds 4–10 mm long. In some genera (e.g. Prumnopitys ), the scales are minute and not fleshy, but the seed coat develops a fleshy layer instead, the cone having the appearance of one to three small plums on a central stem. The seeds have a hard coat evolved to resist digestion in the bird's stomach. Members of the cypress family ( cypresses , arborvitae , junipers , redwoods , etc.) differ in that

915-854: Is a geomorphological region in Europe that covers all or parts of Belgium , the Netherlands (i.e. the Low Countries ), Germany , Denmark , and Poland . It consists of the low plains between the Hercynian Europe ( Central European Highlands ) to the south and coastlines of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the north. These two seas are separated by the Jutland Peninsula (Denmark). The North European Plain

976-426: Is a fairground with cone cow sculptures large enough for children to ride on. In Sweden, a video game was released in which the player may build virtual cone cows. Swedish artist Lasse Åberg has created artwork with cone cows, which has been included in an alphabet book and featured on a Swedish postage stamp among other classic toys. Cones are also used as decorative elements in architecture such as on top of

1037-519: Is complete. This process occurs with older cones while attached to branches and even after the older cones have fallen to the forest floor . The condition of fallen pine cones is a crude indication of the forest floor's moisture content, which is an important indication of wildfire risk. Closed cones indicate damp conditions while open cones indicate the forest floor is dry. As a result of this, pine cones have often been used by people in temperate climates to predict dry and wet weather, usually hanging

1098-610: Is connected to the East European Plain , together forming the majority of the Great European Plain (European Plain). Elevations vary between 0 and 200 m (0 to about 650 ft). While mostly used as farmland, the region also contains bogs , heath and lakes. The Wadden Sea , a large tidal area, is located on the North Sea coast. A number of freshwater lagoons including the Szczecin Lagoon ,

1159-468: Is located within the forest. By the end of the First World War the economic position of the large landed estates in England were bleak and particularly acute in areas of poor soil like Breckland. Farms were left untenanted and land became derelict. At this time Forestry England had been established. In 1922, the first purchases of land were made with over 80% of the land in Thetford Forest acquired in

1220-494: Is poisonous. The whole 'berry' with the seed is eaten by birds, which digest the sugar-rich scale and pass the hard seed undamaged in their droppings, so dispersing the seed far from the parent plant. Welwitschia is unique cone-bearing plant is not considered a conifer, but belongs in the Order Welwitschiales . Welwitschia mirabilis is often called a living fossil and is the only species in its genus, which

1281-483: Is that the male cones are located at the base of the branch, while the female at the tip (of the same or a different branchlet). However, in larches and cedars, both types of cones are always at the tips of short shoots, while both sexes of fir cones are always from side buds, never terminal. There is also some diversity in bearing in Cupressaceae. Some, Cupressus for instance, have little or no differentiation in

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1342-598: Is the only genus in its family, which is the only family in its Order. The male cones are on male plants, and female cones on female plants. After emergence of the two cotyledons , it sets only two more leaves. Those two leaves then continue to grow longer from their base, much like fingernails. This allows it great drought tolerance, which is likely why it has survived in the desert of Namibia , while all other representatives from its order are now extinct. For most species found in Australia, male and female cones occur on

1403-586: The Douglas fir and larch but these were less tolerant of local conditions than the pines. Substantial numbers of indigenous hardwood trees were planted in the 1920s and 1930s. Oak and beech plantings were vulnerable to spring frosts and deer proved a threat particularly to the beech saplings. Oak tended to fare better but they grew slowly compared to pines, and were considered uneconomic with numbers being planted steadily declining. However, hardwood trees have been planted to form narrow roadside belts acting as

1464-488: The North of England were housed in the forest holdings. As the depression deepened training camps were established. From 1928 up to 1938, 21 camps and a further 10 only used in the summer months housing a total of 6000 men were scattered throughout the infant forest. The unemployment schemes and mass unemployment came to an end with the onset of World War II . The war years saw a drastic shortage of labour as local men joined

1525-718: The Vistula Lagoon and the Curonian Lagoon are found on the Baltic Sea coast. The North European Plain covers Flanders (northern Belgium and Northern France), the Netherlands, Northern Germany , Denmark, and most of central-western Poland; it touches the Czech Republic and southwestern part of Sweden as well. Parts of eastern England can also be considered part of the same plain; as they share its low-lying character and were connected by land to

1586-657: The armed forces or took up other jobs. This led to a significant number of women employed in the forest. They were employed by the Timber Production Department, and by 1943 the Women's Land Army had a training camp at Wordwell on the edge of the forest. With the end of the war women workers gradually decreased. In 1946, the Forest Workers Training Scheme was set up providing one year's training for demobbed servicemen. During

1647-472: The harvester in 1991 full mechanization had reached the forest. Some 2500 trees were being extracted each day producing 180,000 cubic metres of timber annually by 1997. Much of this is sold to local saw mills and used in the building industry with the remainder producing fence posts, pallets and pit props. Visitor numbers have been increasing steadily from the 1950s as the forest matured and now exceed 1 million annually. Open areas created by felling have made

1708-413: The pine family ( pines , spruces , firs , cedars , larches , etc.) have cones that are imbricate (that is, with scales overlapping each other like fish scales). These cones, especially the woody female cones, are considered the "archetypal" tree cones.The female cone has two types of scale: the bract scales, and the seed scales (or ovuliferous scales), one subtended by each bract scale, derived from

1769-412: The post-war years the number of people employed increased to 570 by 1950. However, with the development of the nearby town of Thetford recruitment of labour became more difficult. With the introduction of modern technology and the use of modern weedkillers these problems eased through the sixties and by the mid-1970s the numbers of workers was similar to the 1930s. The vast quantities of trees needed for

1830-529: The 1920s and 1930s in the form of large blocks of land from the former estates. Since the forest's inception, decisions affecting the forest have been taken locally at the Divisional Offices at Santon Downham . At a local level, authority rested with the Divisional or District Officers. Many of these officers were recruited from affluent, land owning families who were attracted into forestry at

1891-476: The 1920s was an area of high unemployment and the Commission had few problems recruiting staff. From the outset the Commission believed that it would help alleviate unemployment in rural Britain. Many people were keen to take up forestry work, especially as the job included a tied cottage , many with an attached small holding . By the late 1920s, unemployed people, mainly miners , from the depressed areas of

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1952-485: The Fens and Lincolnshire , where the landscape is in parts strikingly similar to that of the Netherlands . 54°00′N 14°00′E  /  54.000°N 14.000°E  / 54.000; 14.000 Conifer cones The male cone ( microstrobilus or pollen cone ) is structurally similar across all conifers, differing only in small ways (mostly in scale arrangement) from species to species. Extending out from

2013-733: The Mayday recreation site. Stone curlews breed on the edges of the forest and there is often a wintering great grey shrike . High Lodge Visitors Centre was opened in 1992 and has a cafe, cycle hire, adventure play areas, walking trails, outdoor concerts, theatre and entertainment. It is also the home to the Go Ape high wire adventure course. The forest is a popular destination for mountain biking , and has several marked trails ranging from those suitable for families, to two red trails for experienced riders. The forest also has hundreds of miles of singletrack , several black-graded bomb holes and

2074-911: The bract and seed scales are fully fused, with the bract visible as no more than a small lump or spine on the scale. The botanical term galbulus (plural galbuli; from the Latin for a cypress cone) is sometimes used instead of strobilus for members of this family. The female cones have one to 20 ovules on each scale. They often have peltate scales, as opposed to the imbricate cones described above, though some have imbricate scales. The cones are usually small, 0.3–6 cm or 1 ⁄ 8 – 2 + 3 ⁄ 8 inches long, and often spherical or nearly so, like those of Nootka cypress , while others, such as western redcedar and California incense-cedar , are narrow. The scales are arranged either spirally, or in decussate whorls of two (opposite pairs) or three, rarely four. The genera with spiral scale arrangement were often treated in

2135-603: The continent during the last ice age . The Northern European Plains are located also under the Baltic Sea. Major river- drainage basins include, from west to east: The Ems , Weser , Elbe , Oder , Vistula and this region of Europe is where the Rhine river starts. The soils surrounding the river basins are thin, making agriculture difficult. Historically, especially in the Middle Ages and Early modern period ,

2196-601: The counter-intuitive technique of "topping" and collection of cones from the severed crown tops at one-third the cost of collection from untopped trees and without decreasing cone production (Slayton 1969, Nienstaedt 1981). Most species of spruce are prone to the formation of pineapple gall pseudocones caused by the woolly aphids in the genus Adelges . These are not cones, although they closely resemble them. Alder ( Alnus ) trees are not conifers, but their mature seed bearing catkins closely resemble cones. Because of their widespread occurrence, conifer cones have been

2257-642: The course of the River Little Ouse . 52°27′37″N 0°38′53″E  /  52.46028°N 0.64797°E  / 52.46028; 0.64797 North European Plain The North European Plain ( German : Norddeutsches Tiefland – North German Plain; Mitteleuropäische Tiefebene ; Polish : Nizina Środkowoeuropejska – Central European Plain; Danish : Nordeuropæiske Lavland and Dutch : Noord-Europese Laagvlakte  ; French  : Plaine d'Europe du Nord )

2318-568: The disposal of them continued to be a problem. By 1950, demand from the National Coal Board for the timber decreased and the commission had to find new outlets, these included many of the smaller poles being cut up and converted into wallboard and some 60 tons of pine transported each week to a wood wool factory in Manchester . Large numbers of thinnings were taken to the Commission's own creosote plant at Santon Downham which

2379-509: The forest English Nature have designated 11 SSSIs which have been chosen as representative of the principal Breckland habitats. The forest is largely surrounded by farmland, as well as the villages of West Stow , Ingham , Elveden , and the towns of Mundford and Thetford in Norfolk, and Brandon and Mildenhall in Suffolk. However, it has a high level of biodiversity. It is home to

2440-505: The forest a more pleasant place for visitors to walk and picnic. These changes have now attracted a wider variety of wildlife including birds such as crossbills and nesting sparrowhawks which have increased interest from naturalists. The commissions changing attitude to the public was in part a response to the threat of privatisation in the 1980s. In 1985 the Thetford Forest Management Plan were recommending

2501-404: The forest at High Lodge. In 2007, saw The Feeling , Blondie , M People , Travis , James Morrison and Van Morrison take to the stage. Keane and Westlife played at Thetford on one of their forest tour dates in the summer of 2010. Madness , Razorlight , Plan B , The Wanted , Will Young , Steps , Ed Sheeran all played concerts in the forest during summer 2012. The forest was used as

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2562-512: The forest each winter. A sizeable proportion of Thetford Forest and the surrounding woodlands is reserved for military activities in an area known as Stanford Training Area , with public access forbidden. Four main roads bisect the forest at various points; A11 , A134 , A1064 , A1065 and several minor roads. The forest towns of Brandon and Thetford are linked by the railway and the Little Ouse Path which approximately follows

2623-493: The forest in its infancy needed huge amounts of seed much of it obtained locally. Men and women were sent out into the countryside, gathering cones from existing plantations and pine hedges. As the new plantations matured it was possible to obtain seed from the forest itself. From 1925 the seed was extracted from the cones at the Seed Extraction Unit at Santon Downham, this continued to be operated until 1964. Once

2684-466: The local rabbit warrens . Curved or irregular shaped cuttings was sold as firewood. In 1946, a central processing depot was established at Brandon to process poles into pit-props destined for the East Midlands coalfields. Large amounts of waste material was generated and this attracted a secondary industry of charcoal burning . As the forest matured the quantity of the thinnings increased with

2745-482: The main forest tree given the adverse local conditions and seeds being readily available in the locality. However, the corsican pine was being established at several locations from the early 1920s. Today (2013), the tree is the dominant species in the forest owing to its having greater resistance to fungal diseases and insect pests, more tolerance of the thin chalky soils and producing a higher volume of timber per acre. Many other species of conifer were planted including

2806-581: The most part, cone cows have been displaced by manufactured toys, at least in affluent countries, but the creation of cone cows still enjoys some popularity as an outdoor activity for children. Cone cows are a part of children's culture in Finland where they are known as Käpylehmä (plural: Käpylehmät ) and Sweden where they are known as kottkor or kottdjur (cone animals). Schools and other institutions teach children how to make cone cows as part of outdoors education on nature and history. In Finland there

2867-407: The opening of non- serotinous pine cones is associated with their moisture content—cones are open when dry and closed when wet. This assures that the small, windborne seeds will be dispersed during relatively dry weather, and thus, the distance traveled from the parent tree will be enhanced. A pine cone will go through many cycles of opening and closing during its life span, even after seed dispersal

2928-457: The positions of male and female cones. Cone crop potential can be predicted in various ways. An early indication of a potential crop can be a period of abnormally hot, dry weather at the time of bud differentiation, particularly if the current and preceding cone crops have been poor (Nienstaedt and Zasada 1990). Estimates of cone crop potential can be made by counting female reproductive buds in fall or winter, and an experienced observer can detect

2989-567: The posts surrounding Koper 's Da Ponte Fountain , the central element of the Fontana della Pigna in Rome or a bronze cone in the narthex of the Aachen Cathedral . Cones are also occasionally used as a charge in heraldic coats of arms. In some parts of Russia and Georgia , immature pine cones are harvested in late spring and boiled to make sweet preserves . The pineal gland

3050-579: The same plant ( tree or shrub ), with female usually on the higher branches towards the top of the plant. This distribution is thought to improve chances of cross-fertilization , as pollen is unlikely to be blown vertically upward within the crown of one plant, but can drift slowly upward in the wind, blowing from low on one plant to higher on another plant. In some conifers, male cones additionally often grow clustered in large numbers together, while female cones are more often produced singly or in only small clusters. A further characteristic arrangement of pines

3111-411: The scales are imbricate and spirally arranged, and have 5-9 ovules on each scale. Members of the yew family and the closely related Cephalotaxaceae have the most highly modified cones of any conifer. There is only one scale in the female cone, with a single poisonous ovule. The scale develops into a soft, brightly coloured sweet, juicy, berry-like aril which partly encloses the deadly seed. The seed alone

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3172-463: The scales highly modified, evolved to attract birds into dispersing the seeds. In most of the genera, two to ten or more scales are fused together into a usually swollen, brightly coloured, soft, edible fleshy aril . Usually, only one or two scales at the apex of the cone are fertile, each bearing a single wingless seed, but in Saxegothaea several scales may be fertile. The fleshy scale complex

3233-418: The seed had germinated the seedlings were transplanted after one year's growth. This was later increased to two years. After being lined out in the nursery they were grown on for one to two years before they were planted in the forest. As soon as a property was acquired by the Commission planting began with the majority of the forest planted within the first 20 years. The scots pine was the initial choice as

3294-484: The seed to escape. Maturation takes 6–8 months from pollination in most Pinaceae genera, but 12 months in cedars and 18–24 months (rarely more) in most pines. The cones open either by the seed scales flexing back when they dry out, or (in firs, cedars and golden larch ) by the cones disintegrating with the seed scales falling off. The cones are conic, cylindrical or ovoid (egg-shaped), and small to very large, from 2–60 cm long and 1–20 cm broad. After ripening,

3355-542: The seeds although in some such as Araucaria bidwillii , the cone weighing up to 10 kilograms (22 lb) is shed intact. In Agathis , the seeds are winged and separate readily from the seed scale, but in the other two genera, the seed is wingless and fused to the scale. The cones of the Podocarpaceae are similar in function, though not in development, to those of the Taxaceae (q.v. below), being berry-like with

3416-475: The subtle morphological differences and distinguish between reproductive buds and vegetative buds (Eis 1967b). White spruce seed collection is expensive, and collection from cone caches of red squirrels is probably the cheapest method. The viability of seed from cached cones does not vary during current caching, but viability drops essentially to zero after being in caches for 1 or 2 years (Wagg 1964). Collection of cones in seed orchards has been facilitated by

3477-508: The time when much of agriculture was in a depressed state. Foresters were the next level in the hierarchy and were often recruited from the forestry workers and by the 1940s they were trained for two years in the Commission's Forestry Schools. Beneath them were the gangers or foremen who supervised the forestry workers. The forest workers were organised into gangs of between three and thirty, their tasks included clearing ground, planting, weeding and later brashing and thinning. Breckland of

3538-539: The western section has been known as the Low Countries . The North German Plain is located north of the Central Uplands of Germany. The part in modern-day Poland is called the "Polish Plain" ( Polish : Niż Polski or Nizina Polska ) and stretches from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathians The extension of the plain into England consists mainly of the flatlands of East Anglia ,

3599-413: Was pre-thinning this process was carried out after 15 to 16 years. It involved the removal of diseased trees. Larger trees known as wolves were also removed as they suppressed their smaller and straighter more valuable neighbours. Thinning began when the trees were 18 to 20 years old, coinciding with the start of World War 2. At this time there was much debate about how the work would be carried out. It

3660-425: Was decided that racks or access ways 18 to 20 feet in width would be cut and then dividing the compartments into blocks covering 5 acres. Next, two rows of trees were removed to create a rack some 10 feet wide. The thinnings were graded and the straighter poles used as pit props in the coal industry . Other thinnings had a wide range of uses including fencing posts, pea poles in gardens and into netting stakes for

3721-404: Was established in 1958 before closing in 1970. As the forest matured the size of the material being removed increased and clear felling of mature areas began with felled timber being sold directly to timber merchants. By the mid 1960s chainsaws had been introduced and by the early 1980s specially adapted tractors and trailers known as forwarders came into widespread operation. With the arrival of

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