News / Trees
Event pays homage to trees loved and lost
A touring event inviting people to reflect and share their connections with local trees is coming to Bristol on Sunday.
Notice This Tree will create a space to grieve for trees lost, celebrate those special to individuals or communities and, alongside acknowledging their environmental value, flag up the cultural significance of urban trees.
“Ancient trees connect us with our cultural heritage, offering a link between past and future generations. There’s a metaphorical and practical value similar to historical buildings and artefacts,” event co-organiser Alice Peperell told Bristol24/7.
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“A tree that’s 50, 80, 100 years old has travelled generations. That connection with ancestors and times gone by can help us feel rooted to people, place and community.
“We need to think about how we can prioritise these trees. Just because there’s an idea to chop one down and plant another – how does that replace an ancient tree that’s got all these stories to tell?”
Activists occupied the much-loved 100-year-old Ashley Down oak which was threatened due to a perceived risk to local housing, and ultimately saved from felling in 2021 – photo: Save the Ashley Down Oak
Notice This Tree point out that it takes years for newly-planted saplings to offer the same ecological services as mature trees, which provide higher CO2 absorption and support diverse wildlife.
Their event – called an ‘intervention’ – is centred round a screening of the Happy Man Tree film at the Cube cinema.
Hackney’s Happy Man plane tree, which won the Woodland Trust Tree of the Year in 2020, was felled in that year following a concerted community campaign to protect it.
“The campaign inspired the community in London to establish Notice This Tree to enable others to gather around a shared sense of loss as well as an appreciation of the nature that remains in their cities,” recalled Peperell, who is also Bristol Good Food 2030’s interim partnership coordinator.
The Bristol event, the sixth in a nationwide tour of the film, includes a roll-call of trees around the UK that have been lost.
“The idea is to pay homage and acknowledge these losses, and give each of these trees – that have no tongues – a voice,” explained Peperell.
Katy, pictured with Alice Peperell in the Bear Pit, put together footage of the community campaign to save the Happy Man Tree to create a film which is now being toured nationwide as part of the Notice This Tree project – photo: Gaby Solly
Participants are invited to walk from their favourite tree to the Bear Pit for a ceremony at 3pm, then continue in procession to the Cube.
It is a timely event for residents currently protesting the felling of a ‘healthy’ ash tree on Guinea Street in Redcliffe.
Local campaigners are still mourning the loss of the Temple Meads willow and M32 maples, and Bristol Tree Forum flag an immediate threat to the city’s trees at St Mary Le Port, 84 trees to be removed at Bedminster Green, 74 trees to be removed from Baltic Wharf and five planes from Broad Quay in the centre.
Peperell will be starting her walk with fellow Notice This Tree community members at the Ashley Down oak, the subject of an intensive local campaign which eventually saw felling plans quashed and the tree saved by the community.
“It’s a beautiful success story of a beautiful oak which holds dear emotional significance to me,” she said.
“The aim of Notice This Tree is to bring people together to reflect on the importance of these green giants, and to think about what we’re losing,” Peperell continued.
“Trees are a crucial habitat for many species, as well as shade to humans and wildlife, water management and air purification. We need them to breathe! Their mycelial networks are part of ecosystems we are part of – we’re not separate to nature, we’re part of it.
“It’s really about coming together as a community, saying everyone’s welcome, everyone’s connected, trees are important to everybody, and grief is an emotion we all feel at some point in our lives.
“By sharing that sense of loss, we can create a sense of connection. These feelings can be really amplified when we’re doing it with others, being seen and heard. Then we can consider how we move into a sense of appreciation of what we still have, and our connection with nature.”
The project has also created an interactive tree map, to which people can add their own trees loved, lost or under threat.
An ash tree – nicknamed Ashley – on Guinea Street is a much-loved local landmark but is currently under threat from felling, which residents are protesting – photo: Martin Booth
As well as personal reflections, the Notice This Tree project tackles broader issues such as conflicts between urban growth and environmental preservation caused by development-led tree felling and the disparities in tree cover between affluent and less affluent areas which impacts community health.
Campaigners suggest there is a call for a societal shift to prioritise environmental values and balance development with the preservation of natural resources.
Find out more about the event and book tickets at cubecinema.com/programme/event/notice-this-tree,13903
Join the whatsapp group to connect with fellow attendees and tree walkers at tinyurl.com/whatapptrees
Main image: Alice Peperell
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