Country diary: The ancient yew, hard as iron yet flowing like water

Darley Dale, Derbyshire: Perhaps more than any other tree, this species captivates us with its monumental imperfectionAlmost immediately on entering St Helen's churchyard I could see its most wonderful occupant. It's a yew tree, at least of equal age to the adjacent 12th-century building, but reputed to be as old as Christianity itself.Like all veteran trees I've experienced, it is memorable not for its postcard beauty or elegance, and certainly not for its evocation of some Platonic ideal of the tree of life. What assails you is the monumental imperfection. Continue reading...