From little acorns . . .
QUESTION What is the largest oak tree in Britain? How many acorns does an oak tree produce? The Fredville Oak in Nonington, Kent, is considered to be the largest.
Called Majesty, in the late eighties the tree was encircled by 37 local schoolchildren holding hands. This photograph (right) was taken soon afterwards and shows me posing in front of it.
John Green, Dover, Kent. A 132.5ft, 200-year-old english oak in the grounds of the National Trust Stourhead estate in Wiltshire is thought to be Britain’s tallest. Standing in a clump of tall oaks, its growth has been put down to rich soil and its need to compete for light.
Britain’s broadest oak is thought to be Majesty, a pedunculate oak, in Fredville Park, a private estate in Kent. Its trunk is 13ft across, when measured at breast height, with a circumference of 40ft up to a height of about 20ft.
Like most ancient oaks, its trunk has hollowed out over the centuries. This makes such trees difficult to age as their rings can’t be counted. estimates of Majesty’s age vary from 450 to more than 1,000 years old.
Therefore, it may be the oldest oak, though some experts believe that some of the trees at Blenheim Palace — home to the greatest collection of ancient oaks in europe — are older. One has been estimated to be 1,046 years old.
Like many trees, oaks have irregular cycles of boom and bust. Boom times, called mast years, occur every two to five years, with few acorns in between. In a mast year, a mature oak may produce as many as 10,000 acorns.
Jane Glover, Chepstow, Monmouthshire.
QUESTION If you throw chewing gum into grass or a hedge, will it break down?
The base of modern chewing gums is made from synthetic polymers that come under the catch-all term of gum base. These generally comprise 25 per cent of the product, the remainder being bulking agents and flavourings. While the bulk of the chewing gum degrades quickly, the gum base is non-biodegradable. This forms the hard sticky mass that adheres to pavements. According to Waste UK, it takes at least five years for a piece of gum to degrade in the environment.
There have been attempts to create a biodegradable gum base. The Mexican company Chicza Rainforest Gum uses chicle, a natural gum base that loses its stickiness when discarded and turns to powder within six weeks.
Dr Ian Smith, Cambridge.
QUESTION What are the customs arrangements between Norway, a non-EU nation, and its immediate neighbour Sweden, an EU member?
CONCeRNS over the integrity of the Irish border after Brexit have seen civil servants looking at the arrangements between Norway and Sweden. They share a 1,020-mile border, the eU’s longest land border. Both are members of the Schengen Area, so there are no immigration controls.
however, Customs checks are required as smuggling is an attractive business. The most popular contraband are alcohol and cigarettes — both expensive in Sweden, but even more so in Norway.
In 2013, a Swedish official stopped a truck trying to sneak in undeclared garlic worth £1.5 million. This is because the eU imposes a 9.6 per cent duty on imported foreign garlic, while Norway does not impose an import duty on it.
While private vehicles are subject only to spot checks on the border, commercial traffic has to use the major road border crossing points or four railway crossings.
Sweden and Norway have reached an agreement allowing them to check goods on their neighbour’s behalf: traffic into Norway is checked only once by Norwegian Customs, while only Swedish Customs officials check traffic heading into Sweden, thus saving on paperwork. It means trucks have to stop at only one checkpoint and it gives each country’s police force the right to operate up to ten miles into each other’s territory.
Technological advances have streamlined border checks, particularly socalled automatic number plate recognition scanners. There is also a sophisticated communications network that allows the 1,300 Customs officials to coordinate policing such a long border.
This is some of the technology the UK Government has recommended following Brexit. however, experienced Customs officers are still necessary and there can be delays at borders during busy times.
M. R. Curran, London SW4.