Country diary: Not long now till our favourite beech breaks and falls | Phil Gates

Stanhope Burn, Weardale: Southern bracket fungus has started the job, the winter winds will finish it. But how exactly did the fungus get a foothold?It's a year since we last followed this path around the western edge of Stanhope Burn. Would our favourite century-old beech still be here? The first signs of its infection with southern bracket fungus appeared about six years ago. Since then, it has not been a case of if it will fall but when. From a distance, the tree looks reassuringly healthy, in the prime of life. A magnificent crown still retains some bronze autumn leaves; a thick, straight trunk is clothed in bark the colour of elephant hide; gnarled, sinuous roots grip the sloping bank like a clenched fist. On the ground, a fine crop of beech mast - food for bramblings this winter.Closer now, we can see a score of Ganoderma australe brackets protruding from root level to just below the lowest branches. They are digesting the tree's heartwood, leaving intact its thin, living sapwood layer. One winter's day, not far off now, there will be a titanic trial of strength between a south-westerly gale and those tenacious roots. The trunk - weakened, hollowed - will snap about 10ft above ground. There are similar casualties along the path: stumps like broken, decaying teeth, and trunks sinking into the deep russet carpet of beech leaf litter. Continue reading...