Paul Barton

I'm running on about 3 hours a night at the moment thanks to my delightful son and his new teeth.

Two relevant books you might read are 'Tree roots in the built environment' and 'Up by roots' by James Urban.

I love the sun but 42C is too hot for me.

I think the simplest answer to this is: are you confident that you will know what to look for and how to write the required report? If you're not, get an experienced consultant in for this and wait until your confidence and qualifications are improved.

Exerpt from the 'blue book': Nuisance 6.9 The LPA's consent is not required for cutting down or carrying out work on trees so far as may be necessary to prevent or abate a nuisance. 67 The term 'nuisance' is used in a legal sense, not its ordinary everyday sense. 6.10 Under common law 68 a landowner can cut the branches from a neighbour's trees if they overhang his or her property. The overhanging branches are regarded as a 'nuisance' and may be cut at the boundary between the two properties whether or not they are causing any damage. The cut branches, including any fruit, remain the property of the neighbouring owner. The same rule applies to encroaching roots. 69 Two properties must be involved, and so householders cannot claim that the trees in their own garden are the cause of a nuisance to themselves. 6.11 Whether the branches or roots of a protected tree can be cut back in this way under the exemption has not been settled by the Courts. In the unreported case of Sun Timber Co. Ltd. v Leeds City Council (a case involving overhanging branches) it was decided that the exemption applies only where the nuisance is 'actionable', in other words where the overhanging branches are causing, or there is an immediate risk of their causing, actual foreseeable damage. If this interpretation of the exemption is correct the LPA's consent would be required under the TPO before cutting back branches or roots which are not causing damage. I would ring the tree officer and ask for his/her guidance on this before any pruning occurs!

That's good. Do you want to share the contact details of who does that for you?

How many actually take a soil sample though Lee? In my experience all mortgage reports are required at short notice so there's not enough time to do it properly as Pablo is. I usually use a soil map to make a fairly general comment about the local soil type in a mortgage report.

Everybody asks the first time, its all learning isnt it? Pablo, I'd send some samples off to a lab for a proper job or get a geotechnical firm in for this. Hope it goes well for you.

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How long is a piece of string? Tree surveyors/consultants come in all shapes and sizes and generally price on a job by job basis. What do you have in mind? I offer tree surveys in the Bristol area - please feel free to PM me if you'd like a quote or to talk over some options.

Fair play mate, that's a hilly course and only a small field of runners. Hope you can walk tomorrow! Big congratulations.

Come on then, are you going to divulge your time? Were you pleased with how it went?

Rest, rest and rest. Don't be tempted to put in a final blast of training - it will be counter-productive. If you have been training well then you will feel very tempted to run this week but you want to be like a coiled spring on the day, ready to release (just gradually over 26 miles!). Eat well and get lots of sleep this week. Best of luck!

Hi Jack - welcome to the forum. You could try Bridgwater College: Forestry and Arboriculture Level 2 Diploma

I have been driving from Worcester to Myerscough once a week for 2 years - I wouldn't recommend it! Bear in mind that contact time can be very motivating though - I think I would have struggled (more) if had been going it alone online. Is there nowhere closer? Apparently the University of Worcester do the BSc and Fdsc at their Pershore campus: Arboriculture BSc (Hons)/FdSc - University of Worcester I've heard mixed reviews from students though. Have you considered doing the Tech Cert or Professional Diploma with Treelife? Their head office is not far from you: Training

Welcome to the forum NatureLover. Do you work for them or do you just like their ethos?

South West Tree Consultancy | Expert arboricultural consultancy services in the South West and Wales

Nice one Christopher. Train well but don't overdo it, especially in the last fortnight. Best wishes for your Dad too.

I've got the HTC one s and am pleased with it.

I'll ask the obvious question then: why would you want 3 strand when there is so much better rope available now?

Read his book a few years back - very interesting character with alot of stories to tell. He only became an 'explorer' because he was dismissed from the army after a prank involving lots of explosives! Where did you get the tickets from? I'd like to go to that too.

Looks nice mate - I like your logo. One comment from me: there is no email address or postal address on the contact page. Personally I don't like the enquiry forms - I'd rather know your email address and see my message to you in my 'sent' folder.

That's an interesting link, thanks HCR.

Fantastic thread and photo collection David, thanks for posting. This has got to be a real headache for you. Are you using a MEWP to quickly and efficiently do the aerial inspections or do they all need to be climbed? Also, what have you read/heard in terms of Massaria's spread northwards? I wonder how long it will be before we see it here in the midlands.