THE MOST REMARKABLE TREE

FROM TINY ACORN TO MIGHTY OAK WE APPRECIATE THIS MOST ENGLISH OF TREES, AS NO OTHER. BUT FOR LISA SYKES IT’S MORE THAN A GENERAL FONDNESS, IT’S DEEPLY PERSONAL

Years ago I had the pleasure of a 60-year old oak tree growing in my city garden. Its leaves, acid green when tiny, darkening as spring gave way to summer and, briefly, beautifully golden before the fall, rustled outside the window of the room where I worked. London was hidden behind its canopy and sturdy trunk. Then one day, the news that it would have to go. The subsidence word was mentioned, neighbours were worried, experts came, looked, measured and reported. When the chainsaw roared I watched from my window. Then I left the house, unable to bear it. I came home purposely after dark but the familiar silhouette was gone. There was a knock on the door; a concerned conservationist asking why we’d chopped down a mature oak tree. I…

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The Simple Things (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2016 - Issue 52

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