70. Blacksmiths Tree, a conundrum

A young copper beech planted on a street in an Edinburgh suburb has a story to tell, I assume…

Paul Wood

Sep 24, 2023

Outside a kitchen showroom on St John's Road in the western Edinburgh suburb of Corstorphine, a young copper beech is planted on the landward side of the pavement. A plaque on the wall notes improvements to the streetscape were completed in 2004 and until about 2010 a paving slab in front of the tree was emblazoned with the label ‘Blacksmiths Tree’. Nearby a manhole cover reads “The future influences the present just as much as the past.” This quote is from the nineteenth-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

Help!

My notes tell me this is an historic tree, something its position and the various plaques support, but I cannot find the original source for the information that drew me to Corstorphine. I assume there has been a Blacksmiths Tree here for many years, perhaps the 2004 tree replaced an older one, but I do not know why it is here, why it is called the Blacksmiths Tree or why there is a quote from Nietzsche nearby. If you have any knowledge of the tree, or indeed have any theories about it, I’d be very pleased to hear them!