HE has clocked up 50 years of work on a fine English estate. Now, a forester has been honoured with a long-service award from the Royal Forestry Society (RFS). 

Mick Beeson has been part of the Milton Estate’s forestry team since leaving school, playing an instrumental role in all aspects of its woodland management and helping to nurture future tree-care professionals. 

He was recently presented with the award by Milton Hall owner, Philip Naylor-Leyland. 

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“I have enjoyed all aspects of the job, except back in the days when I was thinning conifers in the summer heat,” Mick, now 67, said. “Being outdoors and in the countryside, seeing the different seasons and the changes in the woods – this life just suits me.”

Starting as a hand weeder in young plantations at just 17, his strength and height quickly led to him being tasked with loading timber trailers by hand, as there were no cranes on the estate at the time. He later moved on to interrow weeding with a tractor and swipe, a job that remains one of his main duties today.

In the early 1980s, he played a crucial role in felling large amounts of mature elm woodlands following the Dutch elm disease outbreak, subsequently replanting with ash and oak – trees he still tends to this day.

Mick has also been instrumental in maintaining the treescape within Milton Park, removing large cedars, opening up vistas, and replanting many individual trees in accordance with plans originally laid out by the renowned landscape designer Humphry Repton.

The Milton Estate – Cambridgeshire – boasts 530 hectares of woodland, with 70 per cent hardwood and 30 per cent softwood spread over a wide area. The bulk of the woodland comprises 120-year-old ash and oak, with some areas designated as Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland (ASNW) and Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS).

Philip Naylor-Leyland said: “Mick has been a valued member of the forestry team over the last 50 years; his experience and knowledge across the whole Estate is invaluable. 

“He has great passion for nature, wildlife, archaeology and the countryside which has helped with the management of the estate land over the years, and is a great mentor to the younger foresters in the department. In addition, he is a very experienced entomologist and highly respected in this locality.”