A 5000 Year Old Tree - Had to visit

When visiting friends (Jen and Marcus Scotney) the mention of a local tree estimated to be 3-5000 years old was in the area, well of course, had to pay a visit.

A tree that is rumoured to be the oldest tree in the UK and maybe Europe. It is thought it could be 5000 years old. It is now in the church yard at Fortingall, obviously the tree was there first. Fortingall is a small hamlet just off the Loch Yay valley and there is lots of evidence of stone circles, standing stones and cup and marks, suggesting this area has been a place of community for many years. It makes sense. A wide valley sheltered by mountains and would have been filled with trees, streams and fertile land. A meeting place where people would come to barter, heal, swop stories, learn and fall in love. A Yew tree would have been the focus of the area. Yews were the meeting points that later became market places, village greens, community centres and meet up points. What could be finer? This tree would have been witness to many events and the notice board gives a brief history as well as time line.

Now it is protected by a large wall and painted iron bars. To stop people continuing to take bits of it away. It is thought that it used to be 17m round at it's largest and people had fires inside it. A ring of wooden stakes mark the original trunk. Two pieces of trunk remain, one propped up on brick work and the other standing free. You can see it through the bars, read the information board and follow the path. It sits next to the church in the corner of the graveyard. A steady flow of people park up and walk up to have a look. To be honest at a glance it doesn't really look much. There are taller trees in the church yard and down the valley; larger oaks and ash trees. They walk up and peer through the bars, mutter amongst themselves and move on, maybe mooch around the graveyard, get back in their cars and drive away.

But there is more to trees than the visual. If you have read any of my other things, you know I feel the energy from trees. I know not everyone gets this and it is hard to explain what I feel. But I know what I feel and it happens too often so has to be something. My kids take the micky, but I am happy with that. One day they might, hopefully, get it. All living things give off an electromagnetic energy. This energy from trees and plants can be recorded and it changes with different situations. Sometimes this energy is strong enough to be felt, but we have to be open to it and learn how to feel it. If you want to, that is.

So going back to this amazing, very old tree. It had an amazing energy. You could feel it from underneath the tree. Some trees once you step away from under the canopy you lose this feeling. This tree, the energy was so strong a few meters away. There was a good energy in the graveyard but this got stronger and different when at the tree. Even from behind the wall and railings it could be felt. There were lots of people there, moving about, getting in close, peering in through the railings. Reading the information board, chatting, pointing, looking at the stakes in the ground marking out the original size of the trunk.

I stood still and felt like in a movie, in a city, where the background is blurred with people, traffic and noise, but the main person is stationary and clearly focused. All this was going on but I was just feeling the tree. Pins and needles flowed through my body, that familiar feeling of natures energy. Letting it flow through me. A lightness, being totally present with the tree, with nature. Everything else disappeared to the periphery. These sensations come and go, ebb and flow. I walked about, the people came and went. At one point there was just me and the tree. I climbed up onto the wall, so to be able to touch the tree, one of the branches that came close enough to the wall. It was smooth, lots of hands have done this. I joined this bunch of people that had shared this moment. The feeling of connection was strong. The energy strong and deep. But also a lightness, multilayers of centuries of time being sent outwards to us all.

This connection feels to me very stabilising. It is almost like pressing the reset button. There is a calmness and peacefulness. You can only feel the good things in this place. This is the healing effects of nature on our body, mind and soul. To be in the presence of something this old and majestic is a powerful thing. Maybe this is the oldest living thing on the planet that we know about. We were lucky to visit and feel the energy. It still sits in me. Taking time out in nature, but looking and seeing is a very powerful place. It can be so good for us on many levels. In this hectic world, making the most of these situations is special. Go find your reset tree or place and visit often.