180 year old conker tree seems unwell.
By Sophiejo
worcestershire,
United Kingdom 
We have this beautiful conker tree at the lock side which is said to be 180 years old by a tree surgeon. This year we have noticed that it seems to be shedding its bark. First you will hear a creeking sound and then several pieces of bark fall off. When you take a look at the tree you can clearly see all the damaged bark as shown in the photos.
This tree does have a presavation order on it.
9 May, 2009
There are real problems for horse chestnuts currently - they are being attacked (and killed) by three different things, one of which is some kind of moth which turns all the leaves brown by end of July, can't remember what the other one was, and the third was a serious fungal thing which kills the tree and does, I believe, affect the bark. Oh dear. No treatment available, and it is said we will, in the UK, likely lose all the horse chestnuts in the same way we lost all the elms. A decent tree surgeon should know, otherwise, try your local council's parks dept- they usually have an arboreal or tree expert of some kind. They might confirm the problem for you.
12 May, 2009