If you ask me, the scots pine bit of his theory was particularly dodgy. Why did he pick them out? Were they the only tree he could recognise at a distance? They are pretty distinctive.

In the Neolithic most of the country was covered in trees, it sounds pretty unbelievable now but it's true. Our ancestors cut down the forests for wood, and pasture and places to grow crops and glades to encourage wild animals.

Scots pines don't live thousands of years. Ok so baby ones may have replaced their parents but I'm sure they haven't been deliberately replaced by people down the ages who were 'in the know'. People have been more likely to cut down trees for their own uses than plant them.

Erm. The major prehistoric trackways of this country are fairly uncertain, even routes like the Ridgeway and the Ickneild way, because tracks meander about because of bad weather etc. Watkins thought his leys were based on real roads but later thinking has replaced that with the idea of energy lines.

I think some places are definitely in lines, maybe they were deliberately done in this way. I think you have to go to the actual places and see what you can see, see if there are any sighting lines. OTherwise personally I feel a bit doubtful about long-distance alignments. Though I could be wrong, I'm happy to be wrong.

Watkins uses all sorts of 'signs' from all different eras on his leys - castles, churches, wells, stones, trees. The different era thing puts me off even more. But it's a cool concept, I'm all for the concept.

sorry to waffle. you should go out and do some fieldwork, I think that's the only way to understand the landscape, and you'll find out something yourself. which is the way Watkins was suupposed to have come up with his theory himself, wasn't it?!

It's not a dead horse.

I think it may be aesthetic - like a hairstyle or tonsure - that's lasted. I still see them on mounds, both natural and artificial, all over the place.

They're lovely trees and the long term decline of thick stands of them is yet another strand in the extinction of the Red squirrel. The wood burns quickly, with some heat, and a lovely smell ...

The Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) grows best on sandy soils and in highland areas esp in Scotland. It's not so happy on chalky soils where the similar Corsican Pine (Pinus nigra var.maritima (Ait) Melville) is much more common. You can usually tell them apart as the Scots Pine has beautiful rufus red upper branches but the Corsican's are a dull sooty grey.
General life span is 250 -300 yrs and rarely to 400 in Scotland.
BTW, You can estimate the age of most trees by a simple measurement, (only works in Imperial) find the girth about 5ft up the trunk in inches and that is the equivelent in years. Add a few years if it is in a wood or avenue. For Scots Pine add 50 % and it doesn't work at all for Yew