The Thorn Tree

[SimonW]

The Thorn Tree really is Dunning's Icon. The original tree was a wild hawthorn planted in April 1716 to mark the burning of the village in January 1716 by the Jacobites. It was blown down in a gale in 1936. Two or three replacements didn't flourish, but this one, which was planted in 1996, is doing well.

It is very difficult to photograph, being almost always surrounded by parked vehicles. Surrounding buildings and the background mean that the sun needs to be in just the right place, and it looks very untidy if it hasn't been recently trimmed, or after the leaves fall in Autumn. I've tried many times to photograph it and never been happy with the results. But I think I got as lucky as I ever will today...



(My first employment overseas was Kenya in the late 1960s. The Thorn Tree outside Nairobi's New Stanley hotel was famous among backpackers, who pinned messages on it for their friends to pick up later. It was always a remnder of home).

[Reinardina]

Patience and perseverance has paid off! Well done.