Tree weirdness!!

No, I am not talking about anything that Tree has done but rather about a very unusual Beech tree we found on a walk in Monkwood on Sunday. The tree has, at some time, been coppiced and where it should have several trunks shooting out of the base it has two that are in fact one. At first I couldn't believe that I was seeing what I thought I saw. According to all of my reference books this is not possible for a Beech to do. There is no evidence of two branches grafting together and the lower section is definitely two trunks and not just a large hole, that has expanded over time, in one trunk. I am sending photos off to the Woodland Trust's research centre to see if they have come across this before! I shall post the results here as and when I get them.

The walk was part of our upcoming Imbolc celebration and on that note we wish everyone a Happy Imbolc!!!!!

Feel me now as Maiden.

I am the initiator.

I am the twinkle of an idea.

I am the spark that activates and inspires.

I am the light that illuminates manifestation.

I bring the energy that encourages the sleeping Winter world to begin to stir.

Feel my presence.

I am the spark of life in all things.

Walking back to happiness.

The clue is in the title I think. Tree and I went over to Symonds Yat yesterday and clambered up to Yat Rock to see the view. Apart from the heat haze obscuring the far distance, you could almost see to the Malvern Hills . The wind was strong and quite refreshing as well. You don’t realise how high up you are until you see that the trees in the photo are 50 foot Oaks!! Tree and I then went on to Ledbury, in search of some wood, and walked the pathway that was once the old steam railway line. You get a different view of the town from up there, as the line used to run on a steep embankment right across the middle of Ledbury. We came back via the Malvern Hills and I stopped to catch a photo of a beech tree that is just to the right of the road as you ascend to British Camp. The root system is fantastic and you would almost believe this tree could get up and walk.
After all this walking, you can imagine, we were fit to drop and too tired to do anything when we got back. Fair play!!