Red Oak

If I had photographed this tree a few weeks ago, it would have actually been red, or at least some glorious orange/red. Not now. But then it would have just been a picture of a tree. Now it has a story attached.

There was a scheme earlier this year whereby people of Cumbria could nominate a tree and then people were invited to vote for their favourite. There is now a list of the 50 trees, in order of popularity. It is obvious that this was more to do with the stories behind the individual trees, than it was to do with the trees themselves.

This is Number 18, named Queen Victoria’s Colonial Curiosity. It stands in Bitts Park in Carlisle close to the statue of Queen Victoria. This part of the Park, known officially as Victoria Gardens, was established in 1902 in honour of the Queen. The puzzle is why the tree that was planted next to the statue was a Red Oak, which is not a native British tree. There is a thought that, because it is a native of British Columbia and the Canadian city of Victoria, perhaps it was chosen to celebrate her rule over the Commonwealth.

Or perhaps it was chosen because it is a beautiful tree and in Autumn is a wonderful colour. Which brings me back to . . . if I had photographed this a few weeks ago.

(I have added an extra picture of the statue and you can see the Empire bit – a world that some of our politicians think we still live in, or could go back to anyway!)


Addition
This is Knottman2's picture of the same tree (we think) in Kendal and in all its splendour.