156. Effluent Fig
A fruity surprise awaits on the Salford side of the Irwell.
Several urban waterways – the Don in Sheffield, or the Avon in Bristol – have incongruous fig trees growing on their banks. The River Irwell is another, where a huge tree clings to the sheer wall on the Salford bank next to Blackfriars Street Bridge. It is likely that its seed was carried here in human waste, a significant constituent of the river's water in decades past.
Species details
Fig
Ficus carica
Where to find it
Blackfriars Street, Salford M3 5AL
///shift.bags.jump | 53.484004, -2.247939
More Greater Manchester trees
See you in Chorlton?
Next Sunday, 20th July, I’ll be at Dulcimer on Wilbraham Road, Manchester M21 talking about Tree Hunting.
This unmissable event will be part book launch and part Friends of Ryebank Fields fundraiser. There’ll also be a screening of a new documentary film ‘Save These Fields’.
By attending you can help save Ryebanks Fields, a unique and threatened open space in south Manchester, and enjoy stories of my tree hunting travels. Tickets are free but donations are encouraged, all money raised goes to the campaign. Apparently there’s something going on in Heaton Park on the same day, so if you missed out on tickets for that, there’s still tickets for this, and there’s no surge pricing.
A new Long Read next Saturday
I have a new Long Read coming soon from Brighton tree champion, Vivienne Barton. It chronicles her journey discovering and raising awareness of the special trees of Brighton and Hove. Before it publishes next week, you can read previous Long Reads here.
Ah yes, I was admiring the riverside figs in Sheffield recently, particularly outside Kelham Island Museum - an appropriate extension of the museum's displays!
Figs are surprisingly hardy. I found some on the shores of Lake Ontario in upstate New York, and they were bearing fruit.