Lisa Samson - Epitaph for the Ash

Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Introduction The Blight of Ashwellthorpe The Science behind Ash Dieback Secrets Bread Ancestors Ash Fires Life Cycle Spring Isolation Shadows Shelter Resistance Notes Acknowledgements About the Author About the Publisher

4th Estate

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.4thEstate.co.uk

This eBook first published in Great Britain by 4th Estate in 2018

Copyright © Lisa Samson 2018

Cover photograph © plainpicture/Bildhuset/Bengt Olof Olsson

Design: Ben Gardiner

From Swimming in the Flood by John Burnside published by Jonathan Cape, reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Limited © 1995.

While every effort has been made to obtain permission to use copyrighted material reproduced herein, the publishers will be glad to rectify any omissions in future editions.

Lisa Samson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007544615

Ebook edition: March 2018 ISBN: 9780007544622

Version: 2018-02-15

For Mike, without whom this book

wouldn’t have been possible

Cover

Title Page Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Introduction The Blight of Ashwellthorpe The Science behind Ash Dieback Secrets Bread Ancestors Ash Fires Life Cycle Spring Isolation Shadows Shelter Resistance Notes Acknowledgements About the Author About the Publisher

Copyright Copyright Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Introduction The Blight of Ashwellthorpe The Science behind Ash Dieback Secrets Bread Ancestors Ash Fires Life Cycle Spring Isolation Shadows Shelter Resistance Notes Acknowledgements About the Author About the Publisher 4th Estate An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.4thEstate.co.uk This eBook first published in Great Britain by 4th Estate in 2018 Copyright © Lisa Samson 2018 Cover photograph © plainpicture/Bildhuset/Bengt Olof Olsson Design: Ben Gardiner From Swimming in the Flood by John Burnside published by Jonathan Cape, reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Limited © 1995. While every effort has been made to obtain permission to use copyrighted material reproduced herein, the publishers will be glad to rectify any omissions in future editions. Lisa Samson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Source ISBN: 9780007544615 Ebook edition: March 2018 ISBN: 9780007544622 Version: 2018-02-15

Dedication Dedication Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Introduction The Blight of Ashwellthorpe The Science behind Ash Dieback Secrets Bread Ancestors Ash Fires Life Cycle Spring Isolation Shadows Shelter Resistance Notes Acknowledgements About the Author About the Publisher For Mike, without whom this book wouldn’t have been possible

Introduction

The Blight of Ashwellthorpe

The Science behind Ash Dieback

Secrets

Bread

Ancestors

Ash Fires

Life Cycle

Spring

Isolation

Shadows

Shelter

Resistance

Notes

Acknowledgements

About the Author

About the Publisher

You may walk past the ash – its slenderness and height blend easily into any wood or hedgerow – but in spring you’ll stop to admire the bluebells shimmering in the light that filters through its foliage. The continued existence of the ash tree is under threat from Ash Dieback, a disease that has spread from the Continent and is threatening ash trees in Britain. During the research and writing for this book, I was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour, which changed my life irrevocably, never to be the same again. Epitaph for the Ash is a celebration of the ash and an account of my personal journey as I recorded its decline over the last few years, taking the reader from the lowlands of Norfolk to the uplands of Yorkshire, and from Devon to the northernmost reaches of the British Isles. The book explores the cultural significance of the ash tree, tracing its mythology in Norse culture and through some of the literature on and history of woodlands in Britain.

The ancient woodlands of today are a fraction of the size they were in Anglo-Saxon Britain, as agriculture and industry have gradually encroached on the forests. During the post-war years thousands of acres of woodland were given over to agricultural production or buildings to accommodate a burgeoning population. As the elms were ravaged by Dutch Elm Disease in the latter half of the twentieth century, the importance of the ash as a habitat for rare flora and fauna increased. Trees, like any living organism, have always suffered from blight and disease, but the loss of most of our elms, and now the danger to the ash poses a serious environmental threat.

In May 1978, I clearly recall my mother bristling with pride as she showed me a copy of the Sunday Times Magazine , which featured my uncle’s new book, Epitaph for the Elm . Gerald Wilkinson was her older brother, the eccentric tree expert. We saw little of him, but occasionally he would stop by in his old Volkswagen camper-van on his way to or from one of his extended research trips in the woodlands of Britain. To a town child like me, with a yearning for the open countryside, this seemed the most romantic way to spend your life, and I’m sure I begged him to take me with him.

I’ve been communing with trees since I was young and sometimes fancy they are aware of me. The brightest days of my childhood were when my family and I got onto a bus into the countryside, then walked through the woods and fields, picnicking under a tree. I’d roam away from the others and listen to the trees whispering. I never wandered too far because I was afraid of my own shadow and would imagine danger lurking behind hedgerows and in the depths of the dark wood. I’ve always loved trees for their swaying limbs and shady canopies, so easy to draw, but it is only as an adult that I have learned to regard them as friends. They’re good company and they do talk if you stop to listen.