Conolly's Plot (Malappuram - Kerala)

Ofcourse, I would have ventured to a couple of places, though I relaxed at Spices Resort. One of it was Conolly's Plot. This entire property was developed during the British Raj in India from 1841-55. 
The then collector of Malabar, Mr.H.V.Conolly ordered this and the place was names after him and  Sri.Chathu Menon made this happen. The entire place was a whooping 1500 acres originally, making this the biggest man made forest and oldest manmade teak plantation. 


About 1.5km from the entrance is the Chaliyar river and to cross it, is a hanging bridge of 140 ft length! Its a suspension bridge with iron holding and concrete base. At a time it can withstand 20 people. A safety instruction board there clearly says, that the bridge is meant only for walking, not for running or jumping!
Teak gets its name from Tectona Grandis which means, Carpenter's Joy since it does not get affected by rust etc. So it was used a lot for ship building in British era. 


By 1933, a plot of 14.8 acres was protected and names Conolly Plot! During the 2nd world war in 1943, many of these trees were chopped from 9.1 acres, for wood to make guns. Whatever is remaining has been protected and is now under the control of forest department. Presently 5.675 acres still survive. 
The trees here are numbered and the their girth has been measured. Presently 117 trees are surviving, with the biggest one measuring 42.9cm circumference and 49.2m height. 2 very tall people could touch the tips of their fingers around the tree. I couldn't ever cover half. 
Apart from these there also several other trees within this premises. I dunno what this tree is, but this was the biggest!
Btw, there's a small shop of the forest dept here. Your must buys from here are bamboo rice (no, this is not the Chinese sticky rice, which is cooked inside bamboo, this is the grains of the bamboo itself!) and Asparagus pickle! The pickle is way too yummy!!!

TO GET THERE:
From Palakkad: 90km via Melattur
From Kozhikode: 57km
From Spices Farm stay: 50km 

On Google Maps: 11.270061, 76.205595

Bhushavali

An ardent traveler by passion. Being an ex - Art History Teacher, my area of interest especially lies in Nature and Heritage. Visited 85 UNESCO World Heritage sites as of June 2022. I've been listed among the Top 7 Women Travel Bloggers of India, Top 50 in UK. I have been interviewed in a couple of TV Shows, Radio Channels and Events as well. Read more about me and read the testimonials of different brands

16 comments:

  1. Wonderful pictures, those trees are awesome.

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  2. This place looks lovey and beautiful captures bhusvali

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  3. Great to read your post and Awesome photos.

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  4. Would love to visit this place sometime!

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  5. What a lovely place, I have been to New Delhi but not to South India.

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    Replies
    1. You should visit South as well! India is huge!

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  6. Hi Bhusha, thanks for your recent visit dear Lady.
    Hope you are keeping well. That looks an amazing area to visit.
    I didn't know you were into 'Tree Hugging' now.{:))
    Best regards.

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    Replies
    1. I am keeping well Roy. Ha ha... Trying my hand in tree hugging too! Lolz!
      When are you planning to visit India.

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    2. That would be great to visit, but I think I need to save a lot of SD Cards for the camera first as I couldn't stop shooting with all the scenery. {:))

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  7. just stunning! fantastic pics!

    http://andysworldjourneys.com

    ReplyDelete

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