R.I.P

'Ello, I wish to register a complaint. 'My perfect tree' is dead!'

'No, no, it's.. er... it's just resting.'

'Look matey, I know a dead tree when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.'

'No, no, it's just resting. Beautiful tree, innit? Such a lovely shape.'

'It's not resting. This tree is DEAD. It is no more. It's (not even) pushing up the daisies. It's kicked the bucket, shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain! This is an EX-TREE!'


Yes, folks, sadly, 'my perfect tree' is no longer perfect. I am not sure what has happened to kill it. They trimmed some of the lower branches a couple of years ago, which ruined its shape, but I doubt that was what killed it.  The stone pavement slabs at its base were removed recently (as they'd been disturbed by its roots) and tarmac was laid around its trunk. I wonder if that has poisoned it? Anyway, it has produced no leaves or blossom this year. It's as dead as a dead parrot. What a shame.

For remembrance sake, this is what is used to look like in its glory (or click the 'perfect tree' label below to see all my photos of it over the years).

The no longer perfect tree

Those who've been following my blog for a while may recall me talking about my favourite 'perfect tree', a rowan that stands just across the railway lines from Salts Mill's huge chimney. Not only does it carry pretty white blossom in spring, red berries and leaves that turn a vibrant orange in autumn but it was an absolutely textbook 'child's drawing' shape. (See HERE). Well, no longer. Someone (presumably from the local council) in their wisdom (?) came along some while ago and trimmed the lower branches, which has utterly ruined the shape. I'm actually feeling quite cross about it. I can't see that it was dangerous. The branches didn't hang low and they looked strong. There are big sycamores and ash trees across the road from my house that seem a lot more dangerous, with their branches well overhanging the road and whipping about dreadfully in high winds. Just corporate vandalism, I feel.

Still perfect after all these years

Do you remember 'the perfect tree' that grows in Saltaire along Caroline Street? It's a type of rowan. It has white blossom in spring, then red berries and its leaves turn a wonderful colour in autumn. I love it, especially because it has a perfect story-book tree shape. I've taken several photos of it over the years but none before at this stage of its cycle, when the leaves are just appearing like little pale green baubles all along its twigs.
Click the 'perfect tree' label below, to see it in its other costumes.

Blue hair-net

To complete the series of photos I've shown over the last three days, taken from the top of Salts Mill chimney, I though it appropriate to include one of the chimney itself, complete with its blue 'hair-net', which was added after the scaffolding was erected. Taken on one of the bright, crisp autumn days we've been having, interspersed with fog and drizzle, the golden stone and autumn leaves look wonderful against that blue sky. Regular readers of my blog will also recognise 'the perfect tree' in another of its costumes.

Not so perfect...

Regular readers of this blog will remember me talking about this tree very close to my home, which I always think of as 'the perfect tree'.  It's a type of rowan and has white blossom in spring followed by red berries and then the leaves turn a pretty red before falling.  What makes it special (to me) is its storybook tree shape, so perfectly formed, although no-one trims it. (I'm slightly tempted to chop off that one little branch that is hanging down out of shape!)  I've shown pictures of it before, with berries and then in winter with bare branches.  Michael and Hanne wanted to know what the blossom was like so, as it has blossom right now, I set off to take a photo.  But there is a snag....  For months now there has been this tatty blue VW Beetle parked right beside it.  It looks a write-off to me - the rear axle appears to have failed and the rear wheels are sticking out at drunken angles.  So it needs carting off to the scrap yard, not leaving there to spoil the view!  (Maybe this will shame the owner into dealing with it!)

Perfection revisited

Some of you may remember that a long time ago I posted a picture of what I always think of as "the perfect tree".   It's a type of rowan and has white blossom, followed by red berries and then the leaves turn an attractive red before falling.  But more amazing is that it retains a neat 'storybook tree' shape, without being trimmed or pruned.  I love it, and I like its location with Saltaire's Salts Mill in the background.  Being stripped bare of leaves, winter reveals its inner secrets - not just one bird's nest but three, hidden deep in the branches.

Perfect tree

Is this the perfect tree? I think it has an amazing shape. It is quite natural - no-one trims it; it just grows every year in this very contained way, like a tree from a child's picture book. I'm pretty sure it's a type of rowan or mountain ash, though it's not quite like the usual variety. It has white blossom in spring, red berries in the autumn, then it changes to lovely autumnal shades before it loses its leaves. Against the backdrop of Saltaire's famous Salts Mill, I think it's rather special.

There's a Scottish song that goes : 'Oh Rowan tree, oh rowan tree, Thou'lt aye be dear to me.' Very apt. Apparently the rowan tree has a lot of folklore attached to it - it used to be thought that it protected against witchcraft. (Maybe it does - I haven't noticed many witches in Saltaire!)