Thankyou all so very much! It’s hard to believe that we could have raised over 100,000 signatures in just a week but we have.

It was decided to relaunch the petition for the Campaign for legal protection for ancient yews to be sure of raising enough signatures that it could not be ignored in Parliament. I have also got a coalition together of tree organisations, politicians, writers and other interested parties as a watchdog for when it does eventually go to Michael Gove and Parliament. 

The tree I chose as the cover photo for the campaign this time is the Crowhurst Yew in East Sussex. This is the 2,000 year old yew tree that witnessed the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and stands opposite King Harold’s manor! Imagine that! It was there when it was all happening! Just to confuse things, there are actually 2 Crowhurst Yews, both at churches dedicated to St. George, both over 30 feet in girth and both on my list of 157 ancient yews over 2,000 years. The Crowhurst Yew in Surrey is actually much older at a staggering 4,000 years and was featured on the Judi Dench programme, ‘My Passion for Trees’. The door in the tree, was put in in the 19th century, when the hollow interior was fitted out as a room with table and chairs! 

Please keep signing, sharing, celebrating and visiting these remarkable old yews  which are bound up with our history. They are so deserving of our attention and so rewarding of it.