In the letters section of the June 26 edition you printed a picture of the Newland Oak and asked if anyone knew when it was felled. 

According to Cyril Hart in his book Royal Forest (1966), he noted that the Newland Oak collapsed during a snow storm in early May 1955.  It was reputed to be the second largest oak tree in Britain at the time, and was measured as being 44 feet and 8 inches in girth in 1954.

According to Ian Standing in his 1986 New Regard article, Ancient and Notable Trees in and Around Dean, estimates of its age range from between 600-750 years.  In British Oak: A History by Harris, Harris And James (2003), the largest recorded oak tree was the Cowthorpe Oak in Yorkshire, which was measured in 1911 as being 48 feet in girth. 

Despite the Newland Oak collapsing in 1955, a section of the tree survived from which cuttings were taken and raised into young trees.  Three of these were planted next to great tree on December 21, 1964 by Cyril Hart, fellow verderer John H. Watt and R.G. Sanzen Baker (Deputy Surveyor of the Forestry Commission).  There is now only one surviving on the site, as apparently the other two were removed to favour the most vigorous specimen.

I hope this information is of interest, and apologise for not sending it to you sooner, but assumed someone else would have already provided with these details. – Stuart Payne (by email).