In the church yard of St Mary's stands this amazing ancient yew tree. It is 2,000 and more years old. The church is built on a burial mound and this tree is probably part of the spiritual heritage of this place. I have always loved this tree and it being hollow I have stood inside it many a time.
One of the reasons for calling my shop and studio Jack-In-the-Green is because I love trees. There is a Jack In the Green or Green Man inside the church at Astbury. Its' aim is to help people to 'Live With Art & Soul'. To buy beautiful ethical sustainably sourced home & gift ware and to teach people new skills so they can celebrate being creative make things of beauty and be happy. It is about celebrating this world that we live in and about treading lightly upon it taking care of it and ourselves.
I have just set up a facebook group called Ancient and Sacred Trees Of Britain. It's an open group so get in touch if you would like to join.
We all need sanctuary from time to time, from the hustle and bustle of life and where better than out in nature under the boughs of a tree? x
UPDATE! A LOT has happened since this article was first written! The success of the Ancient and Sacred Trees of Britain group then led to me setting up other Ancient and Sacred Tree Groups for other parts of the world as we had members joining from all over the world, and eventually to its own website and being set up as a Not For Profit celebrating and planting trees! www.ancientandsacredtrees,org