Welsh tree in stunning location shortlisted for Tree of the Year award

One of Wales’ most photogenic trees is in the running for this year’s Tree of the Year award.
The Lonely Tree of Llanberis stands at the edge of Llyn Padarn in north Wales, set in a picturesque location near the village of Llanberis, with the majestic backdrop of Yr Wyddfa and the Llanberis Pass.
A cedar tree climbed by The Beatles, an oak that may have inspired Virginia Woolf, and a lime representing peace in Northern Ireland are also among the other shortlisted contenders for Tree of the Year 2025.
Voting opens today for the Woodland Trust’s annual competition, which aims to celebrate and raise awareness for rare, ancient or at-risk trees across the country.
The winner will be announced in September and will progress to represent the UK in the European Tree of the Year finals.
Ten nominees from across the UK have been chosen to meet this year’s theme of “Rooted in Culture”, which seeks to highlight how trees inspire creative minds and become ingrained in our cultural landscape.
As voting kicks off, Dame Judi Dench, who is patron of the Woodland Trust, said: “Our oldest trees hold more stories than Shakespeare; some were putting down roots long before he began writing, more than 400 years ago.
“They are as much part of our heritage as any literature.
“I hope you will join me in voting.”
Expert panel
A panel of experts selected nine trees of differing ages and species for the shortlist, while the public chose a 10th as a wildcard entry.
This year, David Treanor, from Glasgow, put forward the “Argyle Street Ash”, pointing to its reference in James Cowan’s 1935 book, From Glasgow’s Treasure Chest, as “quite the most graceful ash I have seen”.
The shortlist also includes the Borrowdale Yews in Cumbria – a huddle of ancient trees described by William Wordsworth in his 1803 poem “Yew Trees”.
The Beatles’ cedar tree in Chiswick, which is around 300 years old, was nominated given that the band perched on one of its low-swooping boughs in a video for their song Rain in 1966.
The King of Limbs in Wiltshire made the list after Radiohead named their 2011 album after the ancient oak, which they spotted when recording at nearby Tottenham House.
Also nominated is the Tree of Peace and Unity in County Antrim, Northern Ireland – a lime formed of two trees that grew together into a single trunk and became a symbol of reconciliation when leaders met there in 1998 at the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
Netflix
The nominated Lollipop Tree on Salisbury Plain played a starring role in the final scenes of Sam Mendes’s First World War film 1917 and the Lonely Tree, also known as the Lone Tree, may feature in Netflix’s upcoming series of The Witcher.
And the Knole Park Oak in Kent, thought to be Britain’s tallest at 135 feet, made the list as the tree believed to have inspired an epic poem in Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando.
Voting is open until September 19 via the Woodland Trust website, with a winner to be announced on September 26.
Laura Chow, head of charities at People’s Postcode Lottery, which is supporting the competition, said: “These trees have witnessed key moments in history, provided solace to war poets, been a supporting artist in a blockbuster film, and inspire reflection and creative photography as the seasons change.”
“We’re looking forward to seeing which one the public votes as the winning tree”.
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Lord help us! Publicising this tree is all it takes to inspire another couple of losers to go and cut it down! Hopefully the lengthy 10 year sentence awaiting Graham & Carruthers (the Sycamore Gap double act), will dissuade other sad wannabes!
Yet we chop down trees to build a house or a railway, mess the climate up and mass die back, log the Amazon but turn a blind eye it its a cheap table or meat at your house. Spoil the view and people get upset.
Weird old world.
Yes we do all those things! And they don’t sit well with many, myself included, but at least those that do these things could provide an argument that their actions stem from purpose or necessity.
It’s unwise to jump to the conclusion that if people are dismayed at a wanton act of mindless vandalism, that they are ignorant of everything else that’s wrong in this ‘weird world’.