a view from the treehouse by Mark Chester

We're back as the Tree Detective Mark Chester chats with Kevin McBride from Kew Gardens.

We're back for our third episode as the Tree Detective Mark Chester continues his chat with the Tree Hunter Rob McBride.

We're back for our second episode as the Tree Detective Mark Chester continues his chat with the Tree Hunter Rob McBride.

Rob McBride: After a career problem solving in IT, Rob McBride began to discover the natural world on his doorstep and especially the special ancient trees.  He found that many were undiscovered, and lacking any legal protection, were vulnerable to loss from developments including road building.  He spent his days exploring, finding many of these treasures and recording them and campaigning for their protection.  One of the first to appreciate the tree loss in Sheffield and campaign for the urban forest there, he was also a pioneer of the annual Tree of the Year campaign.  Known as the Tree Hunter, his book 'Trees of the Offa's Dyke', sharing his adventures exploring that area and the people there, will be published in 2026.  Rob has appeared on The One Show, BBC Countryfile and local news programmes and is a committed campaigner for trees.

We catch up once again with Kevin Martin, Keeper of the Tree Collection at Royal Botanic Gardens. Kevin is responsible for the management of Kew’s world-renowned collection of trees, some dating from the founding of the Gardens in the 1760s. In conversation with Mark Chester, Kevin discusses his latest work and projects at Kew and in the wider world.  

On this episode of A View From The Treehouse we sit down with Russell Ball. Russell’s keen interest in nature stated young and led to him holding a number of key industry positions: Executive Officer for both the London Tree Officers Association and International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) – European office. He also worked as a Tree Protection Officer for Harrow Council and two years tree consulting in Madrid. He was on the technical editing committee for the Spanish national standard for protecting trees on development sites: “NTJ 03E” and in 1996 was voted Environmental Londoner of the Year, as well as jointly winning a Royal Horticultural Society (Chelsea Flower Show) silver-gilt medal for Rainforest Belize. As a Chartered Biologist his qualifications include an honours degree in botany and a post graduate diploma in landscape management.

On this episode of A View From The Treehouse we sit down once again with recognised, world-renowned photographer, author and tree enthusiast Archie Miles. Archie has a passion for landscape and natural history, working regularly with The Tree Council and The Woodland Trust. He is the author of numerous books including The Hidden Trees of Britain, Malvern Hills and Westward: Travels Through the Malverns and East Herefordshire, Silva: The Tree in Britain, The Trees that Made Britain, and A Walk in the Woods.

On this episode of A View From The Treehouse we sit down with recognised, world-renowned photographer, author and tree enthusiast Archie MIles. Archie has a passion for landscape and natural history and is the author of numerous books including The Hidden Trees of Britain, Malvern Hills and Westward: Travels Through the Malverns and East Herefordshire, Silva: The Tree in Britain, The Trees that Made Britain, and A Walk in the Woods. 

Alice Whitehead lives in Northampton and is passionate about the environment. She loves gardening, her allotment and her neighbourhood. Seeing Cherry trees in her street dying and not being replaced, she saw a worrying trend that concerned her; the local authority had not planted any street trees for fifty years. Alice decided it was time to change the situation.  

We continue our chat with Kevin Martin, Keeper of the Tree Collection at Royal Botanic Gardens. Kevin is responsible for the management of Kew’s world-renowned collection of trees, some dating from the founding of the Gardens in the 1760s. In conversation with Mark Chester, Kevin shares about life at Kew and his own journey from a commercial tree climber to working on international research projects.  

Kevin Martin is the Keeper of the Tree Collection at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and is responsible for the management of Kew’s world-renowned collection of trees, some dating from the founding of the Gardens in the 1760s. In conversation with Mark Chester, Kevin shares about life at Kew and his own journey from a commercial tree climber to working on international research projects in the first of this two-part interview.  

Lucy Saunders has managed trees for several local authorities over the past decade, so when the position of Trees and Woodlands Officer became vacant at the Lake District Council, she saw an opportunity too great to miss. She spends her days travelling through the Lake District National Park looking at trees.  Her arrival coincided with Storm Arwen, the impact of which is still being felt. Her days are full, from dealing with requests to prune protected trees to identifying locations to plant trees, as well as finding trees for the Queen's Green canopy.  Away from the day job?  Lucy loves to go hunting for trees.... with Lucy, there is never a dull moment.