Ash tree on busy main road crowned Britain’s best
Mature green ash in Glasgow, thought to be around 175 years old, announced as Tree of the Year
An ash tree that stands proud at the side of a busy main road in Scotland has been crowned Britain’s best.
The Argyle Street ash, in Glasgow, has won this year’s Tree of the Year contest, the Woodland Trust announced. The tree is thought to be around 175 years old.
The mature green ash topped a shortlist of 10 trees chosen for being “rooted in culture”.
The tree was described by the author, James Cowan, in his 1951 book From Glasgow’s Treasure Chest, as “quite the most graceful ash I have seen”.
The quote hangs framed in The Ben Nevis, a pub across the road from the tree.
Scottish success
It is the second year running that a Scottish tree has won the competition, following the victory of the centuries-old Skipinnish Oak in Lochaber, in the Highlands.
The panel of experts did not initially select the Argyle Street ash as one of its nominees, but the public opted for it as the tenth choice.
It was originally proposed by David Treanor, an arborist who has been managing it in recent years, and its popularity meant it ended up winning the title.
The tree has been protected by a tree preservation order, thought to be one of the first in Glasgow.
Standing 75 feet tall, it has survived the Clydeside Blitz, redevelopment and ash dieback – a fungus from Asia that has devastated European ash numbers.
It narrowly beat the King of Limbs oak in Savernake Forest, Wiltshire, which inspired a Radiohead album, and the Lonely Tree, which sits on the edge of the Llyn Padarn lake against a spectacular North Wales landscape popular with photographers.
The ancient Lady Jane Grey Oak in Leicester’s Bradgate Park, and a majestic cedar with low-sweeping boughs at London’s Chiswick House completed the top five.
Adam Cormack, head of campaigning at the Woodland Trust, said: “Trees really matter to people, and this is clear from the response we’ve seen to The Argyle Street Ash. Trees inspire us to write stories and create art, whilst connecting us to cultural legacies and a sense of place.
“We encourage people to notice and enjoy the trees around them, and learn more about how they benefit us – from boosting biodiversity and well-being, to mitigating the effects of climate change.”
[Source: Daily Telegraph]
