What`s New -June 2010
TREES of the CELTIC SAINTS – The ancient yews of Wales by Andrew Morton
Available from www.carreg-gwalch.com
£7.50
If you are interested in the lives and llans of the Celtic saints, or in yew trees, or both, this book will please, and inform, you. Andrew Morton looks at the botanical charistics of yew trees, and how to measure and age them; at yew trees in pre-Christian and Christian history, myths and legends; and at the connections between yews and the sites of ancient Christian settlements. There are detailed case studies of ancient yew trees at Defynnog, Gwytherin, Llangernyw, Llanerfyl and Pennant Melangell.
The largest part of the book is a Travelogue, a trip around yew-tree sites in Wales. The author writes warmly of the ancient sites and trees, and what is to be seen in the surrounding area.
In his Foreword, Canon Patrick Thomas writes: `This superb study will take its place as an invaluable resource. The author is to be congratulated for such a pioneering piece of research presented in an accessible and informative manner.`
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What`s New – May 2010
New sites
Littlebredy – Sean Cooch
Bulbarrow – Peter Norton
New photo
Llandegla – Eiran Evans
Lost yew
Lost yews are recorded at Melliker and Cilmery (Llanganten)
I have spent much of this month in southern France and observed many plane trees, planted in towns and villages, exhibiting the same characteristics I had considered unique to the churchyard yew. There were the same holes and bulging caused by branch removal and in some of the older trees a complete horse-shoe shaped hollow shell had developed. It was also possible to see root material growing downwards into the decaying centre of some trees, though I saw no instance where this resulted in development of the internal stem seen in many ancient yews.
At the village of Segurat there grows one of the `Arbres Remarquable de France`, complete with a plaque acknowledging that this group of plane trees `formed part of the national heritage and must be preserved as such.` Planted in 1860, the branches of six plane trees have been trained to grow into each other, creating what is effectively one living organism from the original six trees. Could the same technique have been used to help the male and female yews at Tenbury Wells grow into each other? (see Gazetteer entry).
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What`s New – April 2010
New sites
Wytherston Farm – Sean Cooch
Badsey, Chipping Campden, Llanveynoe, Rous Lench Court, South Harting - Tim Hills
Barford Down, Buckholt, East Tytherley –private location, Wardour – Peter Norton
New photos/information
Bentley Wood, Exbury Gardens – Peter Norton
Reenadinna –David Alderman
Shottesbrooke – Dave Kenny
Charlwood – Gary Shield
Lost yew
A lost yew is recorded at Claines
Christian Wolf`s postcard collection
Christian has sent another batch of images of yews as seen by artists and postcard photographers of the late 19th and 20th century. These have been added to the following locations:
Bampton: Bettws-y-Coed: Borrowdale: Brockenhurst: Buckland-in-Dover: Crom Castle: Crowhurst, Sussex: Darley Dale: Dibden: Doveridge: Hambledon, Hampshire: Harlington: Hartshead: Horton Kirby: Llanycil: Lorton Vale: Loudoun Castle: Melcombe Bingham: Overton-on-Dee: Pinbury Park: Robert the Bruce`s Yew
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What`s New – March 2010
New sites
Otford-Cliff Hansford
Chettle - Tim Hills
Charlton Marshall – Peter Norton
New photos/information
Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog – Robert Caldicott
Rosneath – Eleanor Evans
Sturminster Marshall – Tim Hills
Fountains Abbey – Edwin Pretty
Lost yew
A lost yew is recorded at Nunney.
What has happened at Waldershare Park?
Waldershare Park in Kent boasts no fewer than 5 old yews. The largest, in two fragments, is over 30ft in girth, making it one of the 30 largest girthed – and potentially one of the oldest -yews in the British Isles. Unfortunately a 90% section of the largest fragment collapsed recently, and in order to make the remaining standing section safe it had to be severely cut back. We hope to find out what is to be done to the collapsed section in due course.
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What`s New – February 2010
Peter Norton
Peter has become the latest Contributory Member of the Ancient Yew Group. For several months he has been producing data and information about yews in Wiltshire. His journeys along the Deverill, Wylye, Ebble and Nadder river valleys have taken in all of the churchyards along the route and yews have been systematically recorded. This month his 4th report, the Bourne valley, is published and the journey will be completed with a report of the churchyard yews along the Salisbury/Hampshire Avon, into which all of the rivers flow. These articles are all found on the Churchyard Yews webpage.
Peter has also been discovering and recording yews outside of churchyards, and this month 4 new articles are published on the Articles webpage. They are as follows:
The Moot Garden Yews, Downton
Yews of Old King Barrows, Stonehenge
Yews of Blackmoor Copse, Wiltshire
Old Wardour Castle Yews, Wiltshire
This sort of information gathering continues a tradition begun in the 19th century, and people who study the yew now are indebted to recorders like Hutchison (On the Old and Remarkable Yew Trees in Scotland 1890) and Lowe (The Yew Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 1897). The information being gathered by the Ancient Yew Group through the contributions of recorders like Peter Norton will be the internet equivalent of Hutchison and Lowe in centuries to come.
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What`s New – January 2010
New Articles
Wiltshire Yews - An Inventory of Churchyard Yews along the Nadder Valley by Peter Norton.
Found on the Churchyard Yews webpage, this is the 3rd of 5 reports by Peter Norton, documenting the yew populations in a large number of Wiltshire’s churchyards.
New sites
Many new sites have been added this month from information supplied to the Ancient Tree Hunt. Our thanks to those who regularly send us new information and a welcome to those whose names appear on the Ancient Yew Group website for the first time.
Moy: Necarne Castle – Peter Archdale
Prizet – Paul Bristow
Wye – Tony Burgoyne
Bala Lake–Glan Llyn: Llansannan: Sansaw Estate – Shaun Burkey
Roundsea Wood Nature Reserve – Vanessa Champion
Llangwstenin – Lynne Davis
Grillagh Bridge – Declan Devlin
Basildon Park: Goring Heath: Sulhamstead: - Malcolm Gould/Dave Kenny
Messing – Mark Hanson
Bourton – Eve Harris
Little Langdale – Louise Hemsley
Raglan – Tim Hills
St Leonards Forest – Tim Holter
Hackhurst Downs: Little Missenden: Stratfield Saye – Owen Johnson
Lampeter Velfrey – Michael Karpaty/Richard Staden
Bwlchgwyn – John Marchant
Bromham Hall: Paul Mellor
Monigaff – Michael Scott
Buttermere: Drayton: Hard Knott – Michael Suggate
Cranleigh-Old Stovaldshall Farm – Thomas Watson
Little Horsted – Ali Wright
Ashdown Forest – near Wych Cross: Michelham Priory: Paddockhurst Estate: Philpots Manor School – Steve Young
New photos
Yorton (formerly Broughton, Shropshire) – Shaun Burkey
Asham Wood, Whatley – Simon Caldwell
Hawkshead Walker Ground Cottage – Vanessa Champion
Ludford: Pinbury Park – Owen Johnson
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Does anybody know what it is?
Cliff Hansford has photographed this "fluid of some kind weeping from a very healthy yew.
The picture shows what looks like a kind of fungi or a form of algae, something like that featured in Yew-A History(page 27 picture 5.9) by Fred Hageneder."
He asks whether anybody has seen anything like it and if it poses a threat to the yew.
Contact Cliff at chansford@blueyonder.co.uk
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How you can support this web site
Contribute to the web site. Send us latest information or archive material about old yews you have visited. If you have seen or written a yew related item that might be of interest we could consider publication on our Articles page. All work that appears on this web site is protected as far as possible from misuse, but contributors need to be aware that there is always a small risk of submitted work appearing elsewhere. Should this arise we would not be able to provide funds to seek legal redress but would of course give our written support.
Report yews that do not appear in the Gazetteer, whether in churchyard, woodland, hedgerow, parkland or private estate.
There is always a chance that you have discovered a significant undocumented ancient yew.
Many of the yews documented in the gazetteer have not been seen for several years. If you visit a site and would like to send us brief details of the tree's appearance or state of health, your up to date observations can be added to our data base and would appear in the Gazetteer.
Please let us know if you discover inaccuracies in any part of the web site.
If you live near to a documented yew site you might consider nominating yourself to send us a brief report on a regular basis (every 6 months or so). We would like eventually to have a named person to report on every ancient, veteran and significant yew site.
You can also support this web site financially by joining The Tree Register or donating on-line in their shop. Quote specifically that your donation or Membership is for the Ancient Yew Group web site. Money raised will help cover the web site costs and be used to pursue ‘good practice’ projects.
Donate Here
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YEW - A HISTORY by Fred Hageneder
This 320 page book was published in May 2007 by Sutton Press. It was described in the press release as "The first book to cover all aspects of botany as well as the cultural history and mythology of the Yew. It is the remarkable story of the oldest living things in Europe and their endangered future".
Find out more about this momentous book by clicking on Yew:a History.
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