Hi everyone I’ve just been finding out a bit more about Ankerwyke Yew. It’s apparently about 2000 – 2,500 years old, or thereabouts though it’s v hard to tell how old yews are after a certain point because they grow and behave in a very idiosyncratic way, the more so as they get older so the carbon-dating stuff is unreliable.
However I gather the Ankerwyke yew is a mere spring sapling compared to a couple of others, (including one in Scotland which is reputed the oldest living thing in Europe, a mind-boggling 4000 or more years old, in a village named in Gaelic something like ‘place of the sacred grove’ – I bet there’s Scottish druids queueing up to celebrate there) Anyhow the Ankerwyke one is near Windsor, on land owned by the National Trust, which I assume means it’s open to the public. The nearest station is called Wraysbury, though I don’t know how far that is from the actual tree. Fairly near I think. But it might be worth investigating further maybe?
Hey, it’s in our National Trust handbook! It says “Wraysbury 1ml from Ankerwycke”. That sounds walkable, doesn’t it? I think trains go out of Waterloo (not 100% sure). So it’s a possibility.
We could make that a seedgroup thing in June if we wanted. Anybody interested in researching the thing, or maybe do something about yew trees? Any Ovates perhaps? It is supposed to be your tree! Just going and having a picnic nearby might be good enough though.
Ideas, anyone?
Comment by hilde — 3/2/2005 @ 11:44 pm
I had a quick look on http://www.traintimes.org.uk/ and it looks as if Sunday services to Wraysbury are a bit on the slow side, 51 minutes out of Waterloo (the main station not East) and one an hour, 44 mins past. Two an hour (28 and 58) on Sats and very slightly quicker so that might be a preferable option.
Comment by Lorraine — 7/2/2005 @ 12:39 pm
You know, hiring a mini bus might be cheaper. Although people would still have to get to where the mini bus is…
Comment by hilde — 11/2/2005 @ 12:59 pm
A few of us have cars, so we should be able to organize something in the way of picking people up and bringing them, depending on proper organization. I myself (should I be able to be there) would really like to see it - I like all old trees, and yews in particular.
Comment by Petra — 22/2/2005 @ 8:26 am
Daniel and I could give a lift from South London should that be convenient for anyone else, and then we could all meet up and park at Wraysbury train station around the time when the train is going to arrive if anyone is coming by train (obviously we’d need to allow a bit of waiting time because of the unpredictability of traffic etc). Then we could all walk to the yew from there.
Comment by Lorraine — 22/2/2005 @ 4:03 pm