There is a tree that I have been hoping to visit since I first heard of its antiquity – The Fortingall Yew. It’s not every day that I get to visit Scotland, and so while I was “passing through” I made a slight detour in order to seek this tree out. Actually I made one hell of a detour to get to see it, but it was worth it.
Fortingall is a small village lying within a caber’s toss of Loch Tay. The flat valley floor hides a number of beautiful secrets bypassed by the major road nearby, and taking the scenic route was a real feast for the eyes in terms of scenery. Or it would have been if I hadn’t been trying to manoeuvre the motorhome though lanes that were only just wide enough for it. I won’t be doing that again, I can assure you. So when we arrived at Fortingall Church I was pleased to see that there was a hotel with a public bar next door to it.
As we approached the yew through the churchyard we found ourselves being transported back through time. Inlaid into the floor are highlights from history and at the end is the yew tree itself, demonstrating its incredible age (2,000 to 5,000 years old). Now we were within touching distance of the tree, and I was keen to find out what this tree was capable of.
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