Ash before Oak

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Twigs of Ash has long been used to protect against Witchcraft. It is used in different ways, but one of the best known perhaps being the “Rowan and Red Thread” charms. (Rowan is a type of Ash). Many other spells exist which are believed to bring about protection from witchcraft and malefic magics involving the Ash tree. If such homespun hokum is to be believed, then we could be in for a relatively dry summer: our garden’s ash tree is only now, oh so reluctantly, opening its leaves, while the oaks in the Roundshaw woods have been in leaf since Easter. The “wake up” between March 20 th and the April 26 th!! (Photos: John Casey) Forest - Health benefits

Dried leaves of birch used to be used to charm a baby’s cot, giving the child strength to cast off any weakness and give the best start in life. Milliken, W & Bridgewater, S (2004) Flora Celtica: plants and people in Scotland. Birlinn: Edinburgh. Inside Croydon works together with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, as well as BBC London News and ITV LondonAs a boy, in the autumn I loved to play with the helicopter seeds of sycamore, unaware of their invasive virulence. Rain before seven, fine by eleven." 32% of the British population think that it will stop raining by 11am if it had started raining at 7am. The Met Office affirms that this is often true because four hours is usually enough for a UK weather system to pass. But, sometimes the rain can last much longer due to the wind speed. And while I’ll be returning to Roundshaw once or twice every week, it does pay dividends to take in some of the other nearby woods and reserves. Littleheath Woods, just beyond Croham Hurst, has perhaps some of the most spectacular bluebell displays locally – in part, thanks to the diligent and dedicated work of its active Friends group. The sage and wise people at the Bourne Society, who know about these things, say that the presence of native bluebells (an important distinction from the Spanish invading species) is an indicator of antiquity, showing that the woodlands have been in place for many centuries. Passing an injured or ill child through the opening of a young, flexible ash that had been severed and held open with wedges, would cause the child to be healed as the ash tree healed. On the mornings of the three successive days, the child was to be washed in the dew from the leaves of this tree. Oak

Can’t begin to write what it actually feels like – even writing that I can’t do so is soberly expressed, declining the desperation that washes through me. On the other hand, new growth in ring-porous species - such as ash, elm and oak - spreads downwards rapidly from the twigs and appears at the base of the trunk within days. The wood produced by ring-porous trees in early-spring as a result is generally of lower density and contains fewer vessels – though these are significantly wider and longer than those found in diffuse-porous species ( Fig. 1). Wide and long vessels can transport water up to the leaves at high-volumes and speeds; for example, movement of water in ring-porous species has been found to be in the region of 20 m per hour, compared to 1-3 m per hour in diffuse-porous species. In the British Isles, summer is usually considered as the months of June to August. Therefore, the proverb suggests that if ash trees start budding earlier than oak trees, it could be a difficult season due to excessive rainfall and cold temperatures. Whereas if oak flowers emerge first, it could mean it’s going to be a warm and sunny season. One lesson that this column frequently hammers home is that animals, birds, plants and medieval saints tend to be as unreliable in predicting long-term weather patterns as the writers of those hyperbolic, dodgily-sourced tabloid articles that warned us last November of an impending Arctic white-out. Next time you hear the well-known “ If the Oak before the ash …“, think as well about the ash before the ash before the ash ….

Stephen Middleton from the Friends of Alexandra Park introduces us to his tree of the month for April… The wood was used to make regal thrones, and in doing so, it was said to “support the King’s thigh”. On the other hand, the fertility of the Ash was considered directly linked to the Royal House of England. A failed crop of Ash seeds portended a death in the royal family (Ash usually germinates very easily!), and it is said that in England in 1648 none of the Ash trees bore keys (a key is the seed of an Ash tree), the next year Charles I was executed. Ash & Witchcraft And so it was that there seemed to be a rushed brevity to other cherished indicators of spring this year. The period of tree blossom, the ornamental cherries, or proper fruiting cherry, apple and pear trees around Roundshaw, was almost a case of blink and you’d miss it – perhaps due to the relative dryness of March and April? In Norse Mythology Odin, the All-Father, found two tree trunks on the seashore and turned them into the first man and woman? The man was made from Ash, the very tree believed to also be the Yggdrasil or the World Ash Tree of Norse mythology. The man was named Ask (Askr) meaning “Ash”. The Norns, from Mary Foster’s 1901 book – Asgard Stories: Tales from Norse Mythology. Note the Ash tree behind the central figure, the leaves clearly visible. Ash & Royalty

Throughout the major cultures of Europe people have held the oak tree in high esteem. To the Greeks, Romans, Celts, Slavs and Teutonic tribes the oak was foremost amongst venerated trees. In each case associated with the supreme god in their pantheon, oak being sacred to Zeus, Jupiter, Dagda, Perun and Thor, respectively. Each of these gods also had dominion over rain, thunder and lightning. It is no coincidence that oak trees are more prone to lightning strikes than many other trees. This is because of the tree’s high water content and the fact that they are frequently the tallest living things in the landscape. While in March the awakening forest may seem to begin slowly, the ground work is being laid for the explosion of growth and colour that heralds April. For wildlife active all winter, the breeding season is already well under way. Foxes typically give birth to cubs in March and April, and most breeding vixens are preparing to have young underground at this stage. Even in early March, it is possible to discern that our bird activity is shifting up a gear, with increased singing as birds defend territories, with the resultant breeding activity and nesting amongst our trees & hedgerows. In Leicestershire the Topless Oaks in Bradgate Park were said to have been pollarded as a sign of mourning. This was due to the beheading, in 1554, of Lady Jane Grey who had lived nearby. After the battle of Worcester in 1651 King Charles II hid from the Roundheads in a large oak at Boscobel. In 1660 he instigated the 29th of May as Royal Oak Day to celebrate the restoration of the monarchy.Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Beauty, has the symbol of the apple. When an apple is cut diagonally it shows Aphrodite’s 5 pointed star. So who is this man? Jeremy Cooper? Perhaps much of what is contained in this diary-as-novel happened to him. It doesn’t matter. We read it for its own worth and that worth is not contained in a name. Declan O'Driscoll