One of the main features of The Walks are the avenues of trees – which are mainly common lime, but also feature Horse Chestnut, London Plane and other lime hybrids. The first ‘Walk’ planted was the west end of Broad Walk (the section from London Road to Guanock Gate) in c.1713. It was extended to what is now Tennyson Road in the 1840s. St John’s Walk was laid out in stages between the 1850s and the early 1900s. Trees along the Tennyson Road frontage were probably planted in 1906.
Common Lime is a hybrid of the native Small-leaved Lime and the Large-leaved Lime and was widely planted in streets and parks by the Victorians. The trees characteristically produce a mass of stems around the base known as epicormic shoots, which can be annoying to manage. They are also very attractive to aphids – which is why the pavements below are often sticky in summer (it’s ‘honeydew’ – otherwise known as aphid poo!). There are now modern lime hybrids that are less susceptible to both of these issues.