IT’S a while since Prince Charles got into all sorts of trouble with his detractors for saying he talked to his plants. But it looks like we’re all catching up with him now, because we’re being asked to get close up and personal with a tree.

In an apparent wave of nostalgia for the peace and love summers of the late 1960s, this one is going to be a Summer of Hugs in Worcestershire, according to the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity.

Sadly, for those who remember, the idea is not to sit in the shade of a spreading chestnut tree with a few Moroccan Woodbines and wander off to the land of Puff the Magic Dragon.

More you’re being asked to seek out the county’s rare and ancient trees and measure their girth by forming a circle and holding hands around them.

It all sounds a bit like the Druids, but with one caveat – keep your clothes on. Because tree bark can be rough and the marks would take some explaining down at A & E.

The Summer of Hugs is part of the Woodland Trust’s Ancient Tree Hunt which has a five-year plan to find and record 100,000 ancient, veteran and notable trees in the UK.

After its first year it has gathered more than 20,000 records, but this summer holiday the trust hopes to get everyone hugging to add even more ancient trees to its lists on AncientTreeHunt.org.uk.

The Ancient Tree Hunt has already identified the best ancient tree hunting grounds in Worcestershire where there are clusters waiting to be discovered. Its map even contains information to help plan routes for cyclists, walkers and disabled people.

Good places to look in the south of the county are just north of Overbury at the end of Pigeon Lane (OS Landranger SO95633861) and nearby to the west of Elmley Castle in a large wooded area at SO97124089. Several unexplored clusters have been identified in Worcestershire. Try the Crown East area near Worcester (SO815545), around Hanley Castle (SO839422), the villages of Kemerton and Westmancote, and around Banbury Stone (SO955405).

“Ancient Tree Hunting is great fun, doesn’t need special equipment and it’s something that everyone, of every age and level of fitness, can do this summer holiday,” said Justine Whittern, Woodland Trust press officer. “Hugging is an easy way to measure the girth of old trees because a fat girth is one of several indicators of age. The trust is looking out for the future for the UK’s remarkable ancient trees.

“There are estimated to be more ancient trees in the UK than anywhere else in Northern Europe, yet there’s no official record of where they are, how many there are and, unlike most historic buildings, few have any protection.

“I wonder whether any Country News readers can find and hug new discoveries? Town and city centre parks and gardens, country roads, lanes and field margin hedgerows are good places to look.” So how do you hug an ancient tree? A “British Standard Hug” from an adult, with arms outstretched and fingertip-to-fingertip, is about 1.5 metres, and a child’s hug is roughly half that. A veteran oak might be a candidate for the Ancient Tree Hunt database once it gets to a minimum of three adult hugs, a beech might qualify at just two hugs, and a fat, old sweet chestnut needs to be four hugs as they grow more quickly.

But smaller trees can also be very old. Look out for signs of aging, which include holes, dead and rotting wood, wrinkles and crannies. These are all important habitats for hundreds of plants, animals, insects and fungi, including many rare and threatened species. Clusters of ancient trees are even more important, because they offer more places for wildlife.

For more hugging information, or to join in the Ancient Tree Hunt by recording a tree, log onto AncientTreeHunt.org.uk, or call 0845 293 5581.

So Prince Charles wasn’t that dopey after all.