The Tale of a Tree

As you walk northwards through The Oval, if you glance to the right, in the direction of the pond, you will see a newly planted tree and underneath it a plaque with the following inscription: “Planted by Llanishen Local History Society, November 1993, to mark the site of Llanishen’s first church, A.D. 535.”

Many passers-by may wonder why the new tree, a Quercus Frainetto (Hungarian Oak), does not seem to have flourished in the last sixteen years! An explanation is needed.

The year 1993 had a theme – “Plant a tree in ninety-three” and the Society felt that an appropriate gesture would be to plant a tree to mark the arrival of Saint Isan in Llanishen, a story which was told in the Community Times in February 2008.

Our late Chairman, Graham Horton, overseeing the planting of the original Society tree in 1993

The first of our three photographs shows our past Chairman, Graham Horton, being assisted by children from Coed Glas Primary School to plant the tree on a cold November morning. Perhaps many readers of this will recognise themselves and remember the occasion. (By a happy coincidence a recently planted tree, a rowan, in memory of Graham, stands just a short distance away from it).

The original tree survived for many years but tragedy struck last year. It seems that its roots had rotted and it was blown over by the very strong winds we experienced in the summer [of 2008 –Ed].

The original society tree following its fall in Summer 2008

We were delighted to hear from the City Parks Department that the tree would be replaced. The new one appeared a few weeks ago; it is the same species, a Hungarian Oak. It will come into leaf in the spring and we hope it will survive and continue to give pleasure to those who see it and also remind them of the importance of this area in the history of Llanishen.

The new, and very young tree!