8 Comments
Nov 3Liked by Paul Wood

Urban myths abound! As Michael says, they do strike us as quite odd, even to someone knowing nothing of trees I was interested to note when overhearing comments near the one in Canterbury.

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I wonder what they say in Canterbury?

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Nov 3·edited Nov 3

A man with a boy who was studying the tree; man looking at his phone and I heard baobab oak; the boy said but it’s not a baobab they’re in Africa! Adult tied himself in knots trying to explain tree genus and species … before concluding with, “it’s just an oak tree with a fat trunk”. The boy looked for a while longer then said, “well, it’s creepy, it’s just not right for a tree looking like a baobab _here_” [gestured largely to the city]

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They are indeed creepy looking. They look like on Halloween night they might just uproot themselves and chase one through the green, waving their branches angrily!

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Nov 3Liked by Paul Wood

A curiously unsettling tree for me to see. Intellectually I know it's a plane variant, but in my imagination I'm transported to the African savannah and wonder how the poor thing is going to make it through the winter!

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Nov 3Liked by Paul Wood

One just like it in Cantebury

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More than one, I think there are seven, and the one in Westgate Gardens is definitely on a par with this one!

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I read that the seven Canterbury trees were planted in the form of a gigantic cross by William Masters for reasons we can only speculate.

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