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Scottish villagers fight to save The Tree That Ate A Bicycle!!!
Villagers are calling for a preservation order to be issued to protect a tree that has enveloped pieces of metal, including a bicycle, a ship's anchor and chain, and a bridle bit.
The sycamore tree, dating from the 1800s, stands in the yard of an old smithy in Brig o'Turk, in the Trossachs, now part of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park. As it grew, the expanding trunk engulfed the blacksmith's scrap heap around it.
When a local boy, who had left his bicycle against the tree, failed to return from the First World War the tree grew around it. Parts remain visible, sticking out of the trunk. But hundreds of other pieces of metal are hidden inside.
John Barrington, 62, who has written a book on the area, said the tree was "one of Scotland's greatest arboricultural curiosities" and should be protected by law.
"The iron-eating tree, or the Bicycle Tree as many locals know it, is one of Scotland's great wonders. The seedling grew up through this pile of scrap metal, on which the local blacksmith had thrown all kinds of things. As it grew it swallowed up hundreds of bits and pieces of metal."
He added: "The people of Brig o'Turk are very proud of it. I was surprised to discover there was no Tree Preservation Order protecting it."
Donald Rodger, an arboriculturalist who has studied the tree, said he had seen nothing to rival it. "The Brig o'Turk iron-eating tree is a unique novelty and a great part of our natural heritage. I feel it must be protected."
But David Evans, principal tree consultant at the Arbor Centre in Bath, said it was not unusual for trees to engulf metal objects. "This is very common," he said.
A spokesman for the national park said the tree did not warrant a preservation order. She said: "The only reason would be if there was a clear threat to it. It is special because of the bike and other pieces of metal. It is a freak of nature."
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