Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Decades-old trees to be felled at historic Moray attraction to spare them being toppled in high winds

Trees at the Brodie Castle estate.
Trees at the Brodie Castle estate.

A popular walking route and playground at a Moray castle will be sealed off while gardeners chop down trees next month.

The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) has ordered the work to take place at Brodie Castle, between Forres and Nairn.

The trees in question are more than 50 years old and have been prone to being blown down during windy weather in recent years.

There are fears that, if left unattended, more could be toppled and land on other trees on the site – damaging them and creating a “domino effect” where several are downed.

Operations manager for the NTS, James Dean, said: “We have left them in place longer than their usual commercial lifespan and the high winds over the past couple of years have started to knock some of them down.

“When this happens, it opens up the forestry block and exposes trees that are usually sheltered which in turn leads to more trees being blown down and a kind of domino effect.”

He added: “We feel it makes most sense to fell them now – it’s safer for everyone and it also means that we have been able to generate some vital income for our charity from their sale.

“Our gardening team are looking forward to completing the essential work as quickly as possible.”

Work will start on Monday on the areas of trees behind the castle adjacent to the adventure playground and to the west of the pond, meaning the playground will be out of bounds from Monday until Saturday.

The work will also mean that the footpath around the pond will be closed from Monday, October 12, until Saturday, October 17.

The work primarily involves the removal of non-native species such as Sitka Spruce which were planted over 50 years ago for commercial harvesting.

Now these trees will be replaced with native ones.

Both areas were planted in the late 1960s before the NTS took over the care of the property and its estate.

The Trust has taken the decision to harvest the timber for commercial sale and, over the next few years, restore these areas to the native broadleaf woodland that is more in line with the landscape.

This short-term disturbance will mean longer term benefits, as the reinstatement of the broad leaf native woodland will improve the biodiversity and habitat for wildlife.

People can visit nts.org.uk or email brodiecastle@nts.org.uk to find out more about the works and the temporary closures that will take place.