1,300 year old Welsh oak tree blown down by wind

[wtmusic]

"The tree was blown down during galeforce winds on Wednesday night. The oldest oak in Wales – and probably one of the oldest oak trees in northern Europe – has grown in the Ceiriog Valley near Chirk, north Wales, since 802 and measured 12.9m in girth. Legend states that the Welsh prince Owain Gwynedd rallied his army under the tree in 1157, before defeating the English King Henry ll at the nearby battle of Crogen, and that the tree was spared when Henry had his men cut down the Ceiriog woods in 1165."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/picture/2013/apr/19/wales-oldest-oak-tree-big-picture

[IADEMO2004]

1. It just tipped over. Help it back up.

It's old you know

[wtmusic]

3. I wonder if that's possible.

Drop a little Miracle-Gro in the hole, and pull it up with a tractor and chain.

[dipsydoodle]

5. No its not

Unfortunately.

[wtmusic]

14. If they were to do that

and water the hell out of it, there's absolutely no chance of it taking root again?

I have trees I've cut down to the ground that have grown back.

[dipsydoodle]

16. Falling has severed its main roots

and I'd doubt the thicker stubbs could recover fast enough. Maybe if the remainder of the root was fix covered in a housing in a gentle compost and watered sufficiently then eventually it could be uprighted again. I suppose you have noticed its got a girth of over 40 feet.

[wtmusic]

17. Makes sense.

In a windstorm last year here in CA 30-40 century-old oaks blew down along a main thoroughfare, and they were chopped up within a week. I guess it doesn't work often enough to even justify trying to save them.

In this case there might be some disease involved too.

[dipsydoodle]

2. I noticed that elsewhere today here in the UK

Its tragic.

The whereabouts of some of our yew trees which are much older are generally kept secret.

[gateley]

8. I wonder if there's something they could do to shore these up somehow -- before

the winds arrive.

[dipsydoodle]

10. After this occurence

I hope that will come to pass.

[DreamGypsy]

4. Wales still has one of the very ancients ...

... the Llangernyw Yew

This incredible yew resides in a small churchyard of St. Dygain's Church in Llangernyw village, north Wales. About 4,000 years old, the Llangernyw Yew was planted sometime in the prehistoric Bronze Age — and it's still growing! In 2002, in celebration of the golden jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, the tree was designated as one of 50 Great British trees by the Tree Council.

An entertaining discussion of the Llangernyw Yew here.

[gateley]

7. Whoa!

[Politicalboi]

6. It should have the caption

"I've fallen and I can't get up"

[dipsydoodle]

9. You had a 40 foot girth

you might have an issue getting up too.

[HighSpringsFL]

11. This is horrible but...

Can't they just put it back in? Perhaps I'm a bit of a gardening newbie but I've seen people transplant plants all the time. did the roots snap off or something?

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. you can see the butt end of the tree in the photo..

no roots there..
no way to re-connect the roots.

[kestrel91316]

13. Sad and freaky: I am a descendant of Owain Gwynedd.

[wtmusic]

15. Almost like a member of your family tree...was a real one.

That is sad. How did you find out about Owain?

[kestrel91316]

18. I'm the family genealogist. Once you find a connection to British royalty, you're pretty much

related to everybody. I'm also descended from Chaucer.

These guys probably have tens of millions of descendants, so it isn't actually a big deal, lol. But I immediately recognized OG's name ad then remembered that he's in the family tree.