Thursday 8 April 2021

King Willow

The willow tree has always had a special place in my heart. It may not be as imposing as a mighty oak, or even the ash tree that stood at the top of my childhood garden, but you have to admire the willow's sheer will to survive.


The trees I'm about to show you stand beside a small meadow, just a short bicycle ride from my present home. But there were willows throughout my life: some strange-looking trees grew outside a house called "The Willows" when I was a child. They had broad, stumpy trunks and a crown of thin, radiating branches, like the one on the right of the above photo. Every few years the branches were lopped off, then allowed to grow again; a practice I now know is called "pollarding".



And these trees are also frequently split open by strong winds as they get older and the inside gets hollowed out. This also happened to the trees on Grantchester Meadows where I often wandered in my teenage years.



At first sight the tree above looks like a natural and graceful addition to the scene. But on closer inspection you can see that the trunk is at the back, way over to the right, while 75% of the growth is from a huge branch that has succumbed to gravity and is now resting its elbow on the ground. But despite all this it still bursts into leaf every spring!



This is the tortured tangle of timber that you see close up. Like an elephant....or an octopus....or those writhing, anthropomorphic creations of the illustrator Arthur Rackham?



What I think must have happened here is that the trees were once pollarded, but when the branches began to shot up they were then left untrimmed - for centuries perhaps. Their weight was too great for the tree to bear and they gradually descended to the ground. But, as they are willows, they just kept on living as if nothing untoward had occurred.



Some trees are split asunder by the forces involved but, although the heartwood has completely rotted, both halves of the tree continue to produce new foliage each spring, while the disintegrating centre provides a sheltered habitat for all kinds of other life.



Small people, and perhaps elves and fairies too, can climb right inside.



There seems to be no indignity that a willow tree can not survive. You can cut off a pole, stick it in the ground, even stick it in upside down if you like, and, if there's enough moisture, it'll grow into a new tree. If you think these trees' days are numbered then all I can tell you is that I thought that when I first saw these trees forty-odd years ago.



And if looking at all these twisted and shattered trees is giving you a headache, then all you need to do is chew on a piece of willow bark and it's said to provide a cure.



This is nothing to do with willows at all, but a blackthorn hedge which has suddenly come into flower in the same little meadow. Well worth a short bike ride.

*******

And we'll finish of with a little music....


As you might have already gathered from his appearance - long, grey dreadlocks and stockinged feet - Steve Cooney is an interesting character. Born in Melbourne, Australia, he left home and went to live in an Aboriginal village to learn didgeridoo. He then decided to explore his own roots by moving to Ireland and played in rock bands, eventually ending up in the folk-rock group, Stockton's Wing. Nowadays he mostly accompanies Irish fiddlers, singers and accordion players on acoustic guitar. The fiddler Martin Hayes challenged him to make a solo album of Irish airs originally composed for the harp. That's just two of the beautiful tunes you're listening to.

You can only hear and buy the album here - Steve Cooney - harp tunes CD (stevecooneymusic.com) - as far as I know. A copy of the CD is on its way to me from Ireland right now.

Take care.


30 comments:

  1. We had a willow on the property when I was growing up.

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  2. I really notice willows at this time of year. They seem to be among the first trees (up north here anyway) to develop a vivid green haze of new leaves. Spectacular and lovely trees.

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  3. I loved reading about these trees and seeing these photos. Such beautiful long-lived beauties they are. I googled "pollarded" because I had never heard of such a thing. Interesting thing to do. The definition provided by google said it was practiced by "those who crave horticultural oddities." Interesting and gnarled beauty.
    The music you shared is so beautiful. I am going to find more to listen to. Thank you for all of this today.

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    1. There were sound reasons to carry out pollarding. If you cut many trees down near ground level they will sprout many upright poles, which are just the thing for making hurdles, fencing etc. But if you're keeping livestock in the area they nibble off the shoots before they can become established; the solution is to cut the trees above the level the animals can reach - hence pollarding.

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    2. John-- Thank you for this. I find the trees very lovely in their arching, bent beauty.

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  4. Lovely guitar music! I have always loved weeping willows, which occur naturally near rivers and streams here. Not sure it's the same tree, as the weeping does make these long stems of leave fall toward the ground. Yes there is evidence the inner bark of willows is the basically same chemical as aspirin. And I show a pollarded tree on my last photo today, in town in Black Mountain.

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  5. Back in the day, my kids would have loved to climb a tree like that and make it into their pretend fort. What adventures they could imagine!

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  6. Definitely not getting a headache from the twisted willows John, just much awe at their determination, unbelievable! I love that word pollard, I have many trees in my garden but unfortunately none of them require pollarding 😉

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  7. You have managed to search out some fantastic old willows John. We had a blackthorn hedge like that on the farm but often if it had that much blossom there would not be a sloe to be seen later in the year.

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  8. Hi John - my uncle was constantly planting willow pieces - for bean stalks ... but these photos are stunning, incredible how they've kept on growing and a wonder for other wildlife around ...the blackthorn is frothily stunning. Delightful music by Steve Cooney accompanying my read through - thank you ... lovely - HIlary

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  9. Those old willows are beautiful. Great close up images of them, I've never seen willows look like yours, they probably are not as old.

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  10. oh they are really beautuful!
    I got an affection for trees too!Think of all what they have seen!

    They must be very old do you know how old they are?

    Must be a feast for insects and birds to live in

    Wish you all good and take care!

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  11. Well the last one would have my wife running to the house, it gives her hayfever. We have willows like that around where we live and many look like the ones you featured and as for the river Thames the place is liked with them

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  12. As a confirmed lover of trees I admired and applauded all of these beauties tenacity. The first leaves of willows in spring are perhaps my favourite shade of green.

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  13. You found some beautiful majestic trees John. A lot of my childhood was spent playing in woods making dens. I loved the trees and flowers. The mighty oak is my favourite.

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  14. Thanks for the lovely post, John. Yes, if memory serves, I think aspirin was originally derived from willow bark. You have some really interesting willows in your area. Oh, and we get the "desert willow" here in the S CA deserts. One of the very few trees that can manage to survive in such a harsh environment.

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  15. We don't get Willows like those ancient ones, but there are lots around here, all showing up easily because there look so yellow.

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  16. I really enjoyed your bike ride. Thanks for taking me with you. I then enjoyed the music while looking at the enlarged photos.

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  17. A very appealing series of picture. As you say willows are hardy species and seem always to do well. They are among the first trees in spring to leaf out.

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  18. The aged willow looks almost divine! The lower part looks so tenacious and looks like massive reptile. Impression is quite different from gently floating weeping branches in the breeze. BTW, Ghost (without feet) float through mist where willows grow in my country. Take care.

    Yoko

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  19. Those old trees must be very strong to survive. An amazing sight.

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  20. You don't see them too often these days except in parks and maybe along streams. They are lovely graceful trees.

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  21. I had to delete the previous comment because of a type, John.
    Those willow trees are amazingly beautiful, John. I really liked seeing how the tree limbs intertwine and hope they continue to survive. That blackthorn hedge was more beautiful than its name might imply and surely worth the bike ride.

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  22. I absolutely love your willow trees. Especially the one in the third photo down from the top. It is just beautiful! I love trees and find them very fascinating. I'm catching up on your posts and must say that I found the information about the pingo ponds quite interesting. And I don't mind you stopping to take photos of interesting rock piles, etc. I do the same thing when I am out with a camera. You have a wonderful day, hugs, Edna B.

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  23. Not sure which to to go on and on about first...that tree or the music! So love them both. I don't think I have ever seen a regular willow that big...but I so love weeping willows.

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  24. Those are wonderful old trees, they've seen a lot of life and a lot of weather. There was a huge willow tree at the end of my driveway, and one stormy night it dropped a huge limb on my car and broke the back window. I wasn't so keem on willow trees after that.

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  25. Trees of fairy tales and dreams and yet so solidly real to keep growing whatever life throws at them:)

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  26. la force du monde végétal, superbe !

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  27. love those twisted strong willows.

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  28. Amazing - I had no idea willows could end up like this!
    I spent a day at an Aboriginal village in the Northern Territory - interesting watching artists at work, but no music - this is lovely. Steve has had a very colorful music career - thanks for the heads up John.

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