The Oak by the Bandstand

The French cut down the trees here and the city planted them again. The Worpplantsoen lies in the floodplain of the IJssel directly opposite Deventer, and it is one of the oldest city parks in the Netherlands. During the French occupation the existing stock was destroyed, which was not vandalism but supply: an occupying garrison needs fuel and timber and a park across the river is the easiest source there is. In 1822, with the French gone, Deventer replanted, and a large share of the oaks, beeches and planes standing there now are from that year. So the park is roughly the age of the peace that followed Napoleon, and it was made as a deliberate act of repair. This oak is one of them, just north of the bandstand. At around two centuries it is at half its likely life, and the trees around it are its exact contemporaries, which is unusual: most parks are a mixture of ages, and this one has a cohort. Come across on the foot ferry rather than driving round. It is the correct approach, the town behind you and the trees ahead.