THE CORK TREE – George Robson. “One day in 1961 a villager told me that one of only two cork trees (quercus suber) in England is only a short distance from St Bees at Gosforth. The other specimen was at London's famous Kew Gardens. (I've since learnt that in fact there are a few other specimens in Britain but the most northerly is in Gosforth's churchyard). It was planted in 1833 where evidently there is a micro-climate that enables it to thrive.
This drove me to find three mates willing to make up a foursome to cycle out to view the tree on the following threequarter day's holiday. This with the intention to slice off some of the cork bark to bring back to school as trophies. So we arrived, only to find a substantial protective iron fence surrounds the tree. However, we were young, fit and resourceful and with the aid of penknives we soon had our pockets filled with slivers of bark. I guess that today our consciences would be racked by 'green issues' but it never dawned on us that this was wrongdoing. Many years later I read on the internet that bark can be peeled away without causing any harm to the tree, so today any lingering harm to my conscience is salved.
We noticed not far from the tree an eye-catching fourteen feet high slim stone column which I have since learnt is the tallest Norman cross in England. Known as the Gosforth Norman Cross it depicts the victory of Christ over the heathen gods and dates from the early 900s. With it being only early afternoon, we reckoned we had ample time to repair to a local hostelry, where we spent some happy hours before pedaling back to St Bees. I still have my piece of bark and a clear conscience to boot!”

 

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St Bees School,    St Bees,    Cumbria,    CA27 0DS.

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