Westonbirt Arboretum's curator talks to Ronan McCaughey of his love for the job in a place of peace and tranquility.

Autumn starts with a bang at Westonbirt Arboretum with one of the best natural fireworks displays in Britain.

The arboretum contains 600 acres with more than 17,000 trees and plants which put on a spectacular show of colour throughout the year.

But autumn is a particularly good time to visit as the collection of Japanese maples are ablaze in reds, oranges and yellows as the season turns.

Together with a team of 12, curator Simon Toomer manages arboretum's 56 sections.

He exudes an aura of calmness and tranquillity, which one would expect comes from working in such beautiful surroundings. But Mr Toomer quickly points out that his job is tough.

He said: "It can be a stressful job because I am a civil servant and have an annual budget to manage. I'm responsible for 12 people and most of my work involves planning and a lot of tree inspection. As curator I'm responsible for caring for the trees, recording them and presenting them to the public. People sometimes think I'm a gardener but I'm not. When visitors are admiring the trees it's not the same for me as I can see all the jobs that need doing."

Mr Toomer has spent six years working at the arboretum, and was appointed curator in 2003.

As a boy, he was environmentally aware from a young age and loved the countryside.

He said: "My dad Dennis was a headteacher and my mum Josephine worked at Swindon College as an administrator. They would take my brother and sister camping to the New Forest. I loved being there because it is very aesthetic, and from 14 or 15 I was very conservation-minded."

Although Mr Toomer's parents were interested in the countryside, Mr Toomer said they were not particularly environmentally-conscious and his love for trees is unique to him, as his brother Kim is an engineer and his sister Catherine a full-time mother.

After his schooling, Mr Toomer felt his tree knowledge would increase by getting his hands dirty rather than reading books, so he worked for a year as a manual forester in the Cotswolds. This was a golden period for him and he enjoyed doing seasonal jobs such as removing trees to make space for a new generation and thereby maintaining nature's equilibrium.

With a year's experience, Mr Toomer went to Plymouth University and obtained a degree in biology. This knowledge was further underpinned by a degree in environmental forestry at the University of Wales in Bangor.

And it was at university that he met his partner Clare. The couple share a love for nature and trees.

Living in Wootton-under Edge, the pair have two children, a 15-year-old son Jude and an 11-year-old daughter Matilda.

Mr Toomer said: "They are not following in their father's footsteps. I inflict trees on them and they say, 'oh Dad is going on about trees again'. I wrote a book recently called Trees for the Small Garden and as far as the children were concerned, I was just taking over the computer area."

Nevertheless, trees are Mr Toomer's passion and prior to his current job he has done treemapping and inspecting work for Cumbria County Council and private owners.

However, it was his goal to work at Westonbirt Arboretum, so much so, that he volunteered there for a few months beforehand to show his enthusiasm.

Mr Toomer said: "I decided this was a place where I really wanted to work. The collection was planted in the mid-19th century in an ornamental layout, so you always have to think years ahead. We try to maintain a mixture of trees and each season there are different jobs.

"Planting is done in the winter months; pruning is done in the spring; summer is for weeding and we do big tree removals at quiet periods of the year. In the future I am hoping to write a book about the history and management of the arboretum."

The arboretum runs a tree tonic summer trail in the summer which is dedicated to the healing power of trees.

Incorporating outdoor tai-chi classes, staff have collaborated with Aberystwyth University to design a calorie mapped trail around the arboretum which tells visitors how many calories they have burned off.

The dazzling display of autumn colour during the final two weeks of October proves very popular and more than 120,000 visitors come to to see the collection.

Winter is also a fascinating time to explore and a colourful display comes from the witch hazels whose spidery yellow flowers reliably bloom in mid-winter regardless of the weather. Another big draw for visitors is the illuminated winter wonderland which opens between November and Christmas, and lights up 1.5 miles of the forest trail.

The arboretum is open every day from 10am to 8pm or sunset and the forest shop, plant centre and caf are open every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year's Day. For more information, call the arboretum on (01666) 880220.