The Wisdom of Oaks
Centuries old, withstanding flood, war and the march of time.
On one of our favourite walks we pass this majestic oak tree. I’ve often wondered how old it might be. A light bit of Googling and some unreliable maths brings me to the conclusion it is between 200 and 350 years old. A living thing that has spun through the seasons all that time. Giving shade to farm workers, perhaps, resting from their labours. Or shelter for pilgrims, on their way to St Thomas’s shrine at the cathedral. Or yielding firewood to warm a hundred hearths. Providing a place of safety for generations of nesting birds, and food for a thousand foraging squirrels. A home for myriad butterflies and beetles. Countless lives sustained, improved or enhanced, simply by its quiet, steady presence.
For all its benevolence, trees of such size should be sat beneath or climbed with caution. A natural part of its growth and development is that some branches will fall victim to pests or weather. These boughs, sometimes the size of smaller trees themselves, become unstable and ultimately die. The tree can shed them without compromising its own structural integrity or even noticing their loss, it has so many healthy ones remaining. Pity the hapless camper who chose the wrong time to pitch a tent in the tree’s shadow when one of these widow makers makes its sudden descent.
This particular oak, if I am at least close in my estimation of its age, has lived through twelve English monarchs, civil war, years of drought, annual floods, heavy snowfall, and temperatures from -15 to 36 degrees centigrade. It was an acorn when the country witnessed Regicide, and a sapling as the population lived through its only years as a commonwealth. As a young tree it grew through the rise and fall of the British Empire, the Napoleonic Wars, and the entire Industrial Revolution. As a noble behemoth it stood strong while planes carrying bombs to the city port of Liverpool rumbled overhead. It cast its moon shadows, undisturbed, when man first tore through the firmament into space. It held its ground as the city grew and advanced. Now the field in which it continues to grow has been declared a Nature Reserve, so that the ancient tree, with all its long accumulated wisdom, is protected, safe to live out its remaining years unmolested. How lucky we are to have such a magnificent witnesses to the passing of time and the follies and endeavours of man just there, right there, along the path and across the field, next the river and under the broad, blue sky.
It is a beautiful and majestic tree. I talk to my tree in the garden. It was a Christmas tree. But i never used it as such. I planted it. It is now about 60 ft tall. I love your tree and your information. Thank you 🌲🌳🥰
The best use of a Christmas tree!
Trees are one of the most important treasures on this planet. I wish I could live in a forest surrounded by trees like this one. This one in particular, would me feel embraced and loved simply by being under its canopy.
I was hungry for a cookie, I believe you call them biscuits. I read this instead. I was full to the brim. Lovely.
Excellent! Though I think you should have the cookie too x
This is great! And these trees😮
Sharing with my friends. I haven’t been to your webpage in a dogs age! Good one
Thank you, Nancy. We are aiming to blog quite frequently and have my website as the place for all news and updates book and tv wise.