UK's Tallest Tree
The tallest tree in Britain has been officially named - and it is so enormous that it makes passersby dizzy if they look up at it.
The colossal Douglas fir tree has always dominated the landscape and it has now been measured at a whopping 63.79 metres.
Arboriculturists measured the tree, known as the Stronardron Douglas fir in Argyll, on 19 February as part of the Tall Trees Project 2009.
Chris Hunter, lead climber for Urban Forestry, who took part in measuring the tree, said: "I've been climbing trees for 17 years and have never tackled anything so tall, challenging and rewarding.
"They were truly breathtaking trees set in breathtaking locations. Every one was worth the visit on its own."
Mark Tansley from Sparsholt College in Hampshire led the team of five. He said: "You need a huge amount of equipment, you need a lot longer ropes than we would normally use in arboriculture.
"We've got ropes ranging from 100m to 200m.
"That can be quite a challenge sometime - it took us about three hours to get the line into the tree yesterday but it's good fun, it's a great career path, it's quite an office to have - being 100ft up a tree."
He added: "Our work is about looking at the tree as a species and really trying to find the tree's limit - how tall will they grow and the volume of the trees - they're just absolutely incredible plants.
"When you're stood at the base of one of these trees it's absolutely mind-bogglingly large and there are loads of trees out there like this.
"It's great for people to get out and enjoy them even if it's just from ground level, they're fantastic resources and I don't think we appreciate them enough, I think we take them for granted sometimes."
The project involved measuring four of Britain's tallest trees.
Mr Tansley was joined on the expedition by lecturer Steve Woollard, Lukasz Warzecha, an international award winning extreme photographer and lead tree climber for an arboricultural company in Edinburgh, Justin Palmer, NPTC assessor/SRT instructor and retailer for Safety Technology in South Wales and Chris Hunter, lead climber for Urban Forestry in Bury St Edmonds.
The new British tallest tree was closely followed by the Diana's Grove Grand Fir at Blair Castle which was measured at 62.70 metres. Both trees beat the previous UK's tallest tree, the Dughall Mor Douglas Fir at Inverness, which the team measured at 62.02 metres. Standing at 61.31 metres, the Hermitage Douglas Fir at Dunkeld came a close fourth.