We are used to seeing yew trees in our churchyards, but I don’t think I’ve looked at an individual branch quite so closely before. The leaves twist and turn back on themselves, and some lay close to the stem. There was plenty of interest to draw.
According to ‘The Long, Long Life of Trees’ by Fiona Stafford, the yew provided the wood for the longbows for the Battle of Agincourt; the wood is amazingly strong, but also flexible.
Stafford also tells us that yews are among the oldest living things in Europe, and that some of the living yews in Britain are older than Stonehenge, older than the pyramids.
Although poisonous, various anti-cancer drugs are produced from the yew.
These ancient trees are worth a second glance as we next walk through a churchyard.
