Where to see a Black Poplar
The most comprehensive list of native Black Poplars is on a computer at the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology at Monks Wood in Cambridgeshire. This is the list compiled over a number of years by the B.S.B.I., Edgar Milne-Redhead and others.
The public added at least 300 trees to that list during the Daily Telegraph Black Poplar Hunt described in my Campaign pages. I believe people should be encouraged to cherish the trees that were found.
But first, of course, they have to know where those trees are.
I had hoped to keep an up-to-date copy of the full database so that I could point genuinely interested people at their local tree.
ITEC did promise me a copy -- but it hasn't surfaced yet.
It may not. There is a wide-spread feeling among conservation professionals that Joe Public should be kept away from anything half-way rare. I believe that's wrong. You have to trust people if you want their help - and the Black Poplar does need help.
So in the meantime, here is a list taken from the mini-database I compiled during the Black Poplar Hunt. All the trees below were vetted by either Edgar Milne-Redhead, Eric Rogers or John White (see The Campaign). Some were already known, some are in brand new 10Km squares.
If there's one near you, go and see it. Don't trespass to do so, and don't go taking and planting cuttings wherever you feel like it ( see Here).
But do go and see it. Who knows - it might even inspire you to put your hand in your pocket to help finance the vital DNA testing and clone bank centres that together will ensure the long-term future for populus nigra betulifolia.
| County | Map reference | Notes |
| Cumbria | NY 396568 | |
| Essex | TL 455084 | |
| sheet 167 706078 | ||
| Gloucs | SO 98003688 | |
| Hereford | sheet 161 MR 286386 | |
| SO 363 412 | ||
| SO32 388286 | ||
| Herts | SO 769665 | |
| Kent | sheet 173 TR209573 | |
| Lincs | Landranger 121 TF 087510 | |
| Oxon | SP 260115 | |
| Shropshire | sheet 126 OS457058 | |
| Somerset | OS 5439 | |
| ST 218 212 | ||
| ST34 33E 40.5N | nw of Knowle Hall, Bridgewater | |
| sheet 150 MR834 523 | ||
| GR 802601 | ||
| GR 785394 | ||
| Suffolk | 26/374 501 | It's by the church |
| Stafford | sheet SJ82/92 925231 | |
| sheet 127 SJ894 092 | ||
| Sussex | TQ808115 | |
| SU 944 025 | ||
| Warwicks | OS sp29/39 MR 275 933 | |
| Wilts | OS 126 484 017 |