Things I didn’t know about the Beech tree (Fagus sylvatica) until I started to research this post, all courtesy of Richard Mabey’s Flora Britannica …

Even its arrival in this country has been a contentious matter, and it is often claimed to be a Roman introduction … But beech pollen remains have been found in the Hampshire basin that date from 6000 BC – about 2,000 years after the oaks returned to post-glacial Britain and 500 years before the Channel opened. So the beech just passes the key test of botanical nativeness; it was here when Britain became on island.

The leaves have been made into a potent alcoholic drink – beech-leaf noyau. This is a recipe remembered by a 70-year-old man in the southern Chilterns: ‘Wash and dry enough been leaves to fill your stone jar – cover them with gin. Leave for a week, then strain off the liquid and measure. To each pint add a pound of sugar which is dissolved in half a pint of boiling water. Add a good quantity of brandy and stir together, then leave to go cold before bottling.’

I’m not sure I’d give that drink a try but, standing tall and statuesque amongst its tree companions, the Beech is a magnificent tree, a definite favourite of mine in every season, but especially in autumn.