Yew and Me

Not a photograph I want to frame and put on the wall. Yet it is a record photograph in two senses: it is one of those pics you take and keep, simply as a record rather than a picture; secondly, it is a 'record tree'! The Yew in Fortingall Churchyard is stated to be the oldest living thing in Europe!

It is not easy to date an old Yew because they die from the inside, but leave a circle of very much alive growth round the circumference of the old trunk, usually with at least some of the trunk and major low branches still soldiering on. Possible/probable dates vary from 1,000 to 5,000 years old, the majority estimates being towards the latter end. Enough for me to say 'Wow!'and press the shutter, anyway. Live on!