TREE OF THE YEAR
Glendyn Ivin
When I lived in Glasgow making The Cry, I became quietly obsessed with a lone ash tree on Argyle Street, Finnieston. I was always caught by the sight of its branches rising stubbornly against the backdrop of tenement flats. Washed in that glorious Glasgow mid-winter gloom and glow. It felt like it was holding on, determined to live amidst the concrete and traffic. I photographed it often, and now miss it like an old friend.
This week I learned the Argyle Street Ash has been named the UK’s Tree of the Year. At 175 years old, it was the a wild card entry to the annual competition. it’s a striking but utterly humble tree. Positioned unceremoniously on the side of an inner-suburban road, the only tree in the street. And yet it stands, uncompromised, a reminder that while our lives race forward, more often than not, nature endures, holding time with a steadiness we can only dream of.
