At the October meeting of the Friends Janet Niepokojczycka gave an illustrated talk on the value of trees through the ages. After showing beautiful pictures of a variety of trees through the seasons she went on to describe some of their uses - from the Stone Age axe to furniture and fittings, from besoms and bobbins to boats and barrels.
She had some fascinating pictures and information on charcoal production for the iron industry in centuries past, showing historical buildings still to be seen in the Lake District.
From even further back in history was the recently uncovered Sea Henge, a circle of split oak posts around an inverted oak stump. This wonderful & mysterious feature dates back to 2050 BCE.
Amongst the slide illustrations were pictures of foliate faces in medieval churches and the Major Oak in Sherwood forest.
After centuries of tree clearances and conifer plantations we are now beginning to appreciate the value and importance of our native broadleaf trees and some of the older crafts associated with them.
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