Black walnut at Marple Locks

摘要

On the Peak Forest Canal the Canal & River Trust is reviving a tree-planting tradition started by 'the man who built Marple', local industrialist Samuel Oldknow. Oldknow is said to have planted a series of black walnut trees in the area around Marple Locks in the 1790s, to mitigate the environmental impact of the industry he was building in the area. The tree, an import from the United States that is still unusual in the UK, is popular not only among health food enthusiasts for its nuts, but also to woodworkers; its rich brown timber is attractive and hard but fairly easily worked.