Lady Park Wood is one of our oldest and wildest woodland nature reserves, and it is now one of the most important for ecological research. Designated as a research reserve in 1944, the growth, mortality and regeneration of individual trees and shrubs have been recorded at irregular intervals for half a century. The wood has been allowed to grow without management throughout this time, and now parts have developed the large trees, accumulations of deadwood and patchy structure that we assume are characteristic of natural woodland.