A TREE enthusiast is providing future visitors to Colchester’s Castle Park with even more reason to look around and appreciate its natural beauty.

Christopher Howard has written a guide book, detailing the many outstanding trees to be found in the park, some of them dating back more than 200 years.

He is publishing the book, Tree Trails, with the backing of the Friends of Colchester Castle Park, and it will be available at the end of June.

Mr Howard, 56, of Mile End Road, Colchester said: “People probably don’t know it, but Castle Park has some incredible trees and some very rare trees.

“I came up with the idea when I was walking around the park about a year ago and I noticed all the beautiful trees.

“We can get the history of the Roman pottery inside the castle It made me think, ‘wouldn’t it be great if we could give the same amount of information about what is outside the castle?’”

His tree trail features 50 trees, including some which have been around far longer than the park itself.

He said: “The park was primarily of Victorian making, so it is fair to say these trees have stood the test of time.”

Mr Howard’s trail starts with a riddle, which encourages visitors to find “the highest, but not the tallest” of the park’s trees. The answer is a sycamore which, legend has it, was planted in 1815, not on the ground, but up on the ramparts of the castle.

Mr Howard will be giving a free talk on the tree trail on Tuesday, May 15, from 7pm at the Cardinal Bourne Hall, in Priory Street, Colchester.

Details have yet to be confirmed, but it is hoped the booklet will be available from the Visitor Information Centre, on East Hill, Colchester, at Colchester Castle and from Castle Park Rangers.