[A] PLANE tree near the roundabout on Abbey Road in Barrow is featured in a new exhibition at Barrow Library.
Nominated by local pensioner Annie O’Shea for the Heritage Lottery Fund project Cumbria’s Top 50 Trees, it reminded her of childhood trips to the dentist.
“As a little girl I used to visit a dentist on Abbey Road,” she said. “The last thing I remember when the gas mask went on was the plane tree outside the window.”
Annie wrote a poem and short story to accompany her tree which was selected for Cumbria’s Top 50 Trees.
Members of the public from the Barrow area can vote for Annie’s tree (or any other) at the exhibition – which runs until the end of the month – and via the Cumbria’s Top 50 Trees website www.cumbriastop50trees.org.uk
Her tree has so far secured 16 votes.
A video of Cumbria’s Top 50 Trees is showing at the exhibition and also on the website.
“The tree that gets the most votes will represent Cumbria in national and international tree competitions which are great opportunities to put our county’s amazing tree heritage on the map,” said Project Co-ordinator Iris Glimmerveen.
All the trees in the top 50 were nominated by the public.
Nominations included deeply personal and moving accounts of people’s attachment to certain trees.
“It is these stories and individuals’ affection for specific trees that makes this project so unique,” said Iris.
“Most of the nominations – including Annie’s – were trees that I have never heard of but which people nevertheless felt attached to,’ she said.
“As a key aim of Cumbria’s Top 50 Trees is to encourage local authorities, landowners and official bodies to look after individual trees, this gives real
power to the argument that any tree, anywhere, no matter how big or small, can matter to someone and should be protected.’’
Voting will run from March 1 to May 31.
The winning tree will be announced in June when a special commemorative book and map of Cumbria’s Top 50 Trees will be published.
