Fry is heartened by the success of her petition but believes any moves to translate it into government legislation are being scuppered by lobbying from the church. The church has always considered such moves an unnecessary challenge to its authority and jurisdiction over its own property. The C of E is wary of adding to the legislative burden its church managers already face. And it points to the vast majority of ancient yews being found in churchyards as proof that church folk have been excellent tree guardians over the ages.
Many yew trees were in place before churches were even built — they are an important part of our national heritage. Alex Glanville of the Church in Wales strikes a more emollient note. The Church in Wales has introduced a new requirement for churches with ancient yews to seek advice from ancient tree specialists before undertaking any tree surgery; the church provides funding for that specialist advice. TPOs only tend to be granted by a local authority if a tree is threatened.
A TPO is often too late, and too little. If an ancient oak was chopped down in and turned into a building, that oak in the building would now be protected. Not every ancient tree expert is calling for legislative protection. Fry fears that many ancient yews will outlive the church. Churches are being closed. Responsibility for the maintenance of old churchyards in England also sometimes passes to poorly resourced local councils. Powlesland agrees. What is this land?
What does it mean to be British? These yews have existed for thousands of years. Hopefully, if we protect them they will still exist when this entire civilisation is consigned to the history books. The yew in the churchyard at Defynnog, thought to be more than 5, years old. Biodiversity touches every aspect of our lives — so why has its loss been ignored? Read more. The tiny algae at ground zero of Greenland's melting glaciers Dan McDougall. So many of the ancient Yew trees we have in our country are protected by the churchyard, and reports of their great girths, and therefore great ages, are documented throughout historical texts.
In the past they were used as landmarks, because of their size and longevity, and their dark branches would make them stand out in the landscape.
Yew groves planted by the Druids were common by ancient ways, on sacred sites, hilltops, ridgeways and burial grounds.
Tribal leaders were buried beneath Yew trees, in the sure belief that their knowledge and wisdom would be joined with the Dryad of the Yew and therefore still be accessible to the tribe for generations to come. So many of these ancient documented trees have gone now, but in recent years there has been an upsurge of interest in the Yew, and there are several books available now which are still with us. It is possible to make a pilgrimage to visit these magnificent trees and touch the awesome connection to ages long gone.
A friend of mine's personal "crusade" is Yew trees, and planting as many as possible along the great Michael and Mary leylines which run from St Michael's Mount in Cornwall, up through Glastonbury, Avebury, Bury St Edmunds and ending at Hopton on the Norfolk coast. If any one knows of a protected spot where he could plant a Yew along this line, I will pass your name and number on to him if you write to me.
Yew trees can be propagated through cuttings, seed, graftings or layering. It is also possible to find small trees growing near bigger trees, which transplant well. They prefer a moist, fertile, sandy loam soil, but will grow well in most soils except water-logged ground or sticky wet clay. They also grow well on chalk. They resist pollution and can flourish in the shade of taller trees, but little will grow in the shade they themselves cast.
Yew has been found to be beneficial in propagating other species. Cuttings soaked in an infusion of crushed Yew and water produce quicker and healthier root growth, though I have not tried it myself. Cuttings of Yew taken from lateral branches generally produce shrub-like plants, while those from erect topward branches are more likely to produce a tree.
In recent years it has been found that taxol, a chemical found in the bark of the Yew, inhibits cell growth and cell division, and may have some promise in the fight against cancer. The biggest problem is that such a huge amount of bark is needed to produce even small amounts of taxol. The average amount to treat one patient is 2 grams, so clearly the problem of supply would be impossible and could result in the Yew becoming extinct.
Although they have tried, scientists have not been able to make a synthetic version of taxol. Now researchers are trying to find ways of extracting the taxol from the twigs and needles. Yew tree forests as a sustainable resource could be planted.
Branch trimming would probably stimulate growth of foliage and a continuous and potentially increasing supply of raw material. Experiments are being made with varieties which grow faster and may produce higher levels of taxol. A sustainable solution has to be found in order for this potential to become a reality. Already scientists in America have destroyed thousands of Yew trees in their research programme, and now the English Yew is being used for this valuable research.
In Britain, interest in the Yew tree over the last 10 years has raised awareness of these wonderful trees. We have about ancient Yews which live very closely to humankind in our churchyards, and hopefully this contact with the ancient wise Dryads will help to protect the Yews worldwide, as they have offered their protection to us.
Communication with trees is a very real phenomena to those who are open to receive. A huge Yew planting programme began in Britain in led by David Bellamy, encouraging the churches and villages to replant the Yew trees again.
Our ancestors revered the Yew above all other trees. It has always been held sacred and understood as a link with death and rebirth. It was used by early man for making weapons, tools of death, and now thousands of years later it is providing a possibility of averting death for cancer patients.
It is a powerful reconnection to humankind for this tree when you consider that each person with cancer has to face their own death, whether they are cured or not.
One of the most valuable abilities of the Yew is to provide the opportunity for people to turn and face death, to progress beyond fear to a communication wtih what is beyond our reality, which will bring understanding, clear insight, enriched by a deeper experience of life. In other cases it seems that very old yews were already growing on a site before the church was built there. Several other yews growing by churches have become famous in their own right.
These include the Bleeding Yews of Nevern in Pembrokeshire. The berry flesh has been used by herbalists to treat a variety of ailments including cystitis, headache and neuralgia. In more recent times scientists have discovered that extracts of yew have anti-cancer properties. The very hard, close-grained wood was used in furniture making. But yew wood is perhaps best known as the material from which the medieval English longbows were made. Archers used these to devastating effect during the Hundred Years War.
The Scots too used yew longbows and Robert the Bruce ordered bows to be made from the sacred yews at Ardchattan Priory in Argyll. The tree seems to have been rare in the Highlands for a long time. Even so Clan Fraser adopted a sprig of yew as their clan badge. Mayo Maigh Eo in Ireland translates to Plains of Yew Trees , was the largest yew tree forest in the known world, and the place name for that region is older than the Greeks explorers who preceded the Roman conquest of Brittania.
The name may be older than the Celtic language in the area, as that yew tree forest shows signs it was there before that last minor Ice age, with indications it was there even before the last major ice age, growing back each time.
Gaelic place names can often tell us about the past distribution of different tree species. This is because these words can also refer to juniper , which was sometimes known as mountain yew.
The name of the island of Iona probably derived from Ioua, the Pictish word for yew. Tomnahurich in Inverness would also be a likely candidate for an association with yews rather than junipers. This small steep hill was reputed to be the place where Thomas the Rhymer, the Scottish mystic, disappeared into the Underworld or Faery realms.
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