You might never guess by looking at this photograph, but I made this on a beautiful day with blue sky and dramatic clouds, in an area along a trail in the Cotswolds that was very green. I was surrounded by gentle hills, green wheat fields, and many spring-green trees. But there was this one dead snag, devoid of leaves, standing starkly against that sky.
I’m not sure of the cause of this tree’s demise, but that past week I read an article about the deaths of historic and very old (nearly 1000 years in some cases) oak trees in England. The causes include climate change — trees don’t adapt well to a warming climate or to changes in precipitation — and in some cases too many people walking around near the trees and compacting the soil. I wonder if this tree is one of the victims?
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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.
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The Major Oak is a sad story. I can remember going inside it about 55 years ago! This photograph is of an ash tree, which has been killed by a fungal disease known as ash dieback. It is widespread in the UK and may well kill all our native ash trees. There is no known cure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymenoscyphus_fraxineus
I really enjoy your blog and images. It is very interesting to see a visitor’s response to the UK landscape.
Thank you for that information. I’m afraid that identifying trees is not a great strength of mine, especially outside my area of the western United States.
The problem of tree death seems to be global and accelerating. Over the last decade or two in California’s Sierra Nevada we have seen quite a bit of it. In some cases it is a matter of areas burned by wildfires that fail to regenerate, instead ending up covered with different species.
We really enjoyed our walk in the Cotswolds. The terrain, the towns, and the people provide an experience that is very different from that of a typical California walk!