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The zombie tree reared up for the attack. Though dead for many years, it was teeming with life...

More seriously, this tree is listed by the Woodland Trust as an ancient tree, a dead but still standing oak of a girth of 4.4m at a height of 1.1m Link . They described it as dead in 2010, the trunk hollow and split from top to bottom, covered with ivy, and with large holes bored into it by invertebrates.

Thirteen years later, the tree's condition is much the same. It stands by Clifford Bridge Road in eastern Coventry, surrounded by other trees, mainly sycamores, which may have out-competed it and deprived it of light. In times past, such a dead tree might well have been cleared away by a tidy-minded local authority. It is now recognised that, though dead itself, it continues to provide a habitat for many living organisms, and should be left in place, provided it is not in danger of falling.