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In recent years, climbing trees has seen something of a resurgence as a pastime among pensioners, enabling them to enjoy a rare opportunity to reconnect with their childhood, enhance their physical condition and be pecked on the head by a cormorant.
Much of this revival in interest has been credited to Garcinia Poon, the UK’s leading over-65 climber, whose book Elders for Elders has sold more than 2 million copies and is soon to be made into a film starring Dame Maggie Smith, Sir Dereck Jacobi and Jeremy Irons as a tree.
Most pensioners returning to tree climbing after a hiatus of 60 or 70 years are advised to start on smaller trees, such as bonsai, and only progress to giant redwoods and the like once they’ve survived at least a dozen falls from steadily increasing heights.
It should also be borne in mind that, unlike cats, pensioners are never rescued by the emergency services when they become trapped in the upper branches of a tree.