More Tree Fruits

In my previous post- "Tree Seeds, Nuts or Fruits?"- I concentrated on the less fruit-like fruits. In this one, I will show some images of these more fruity ones that have caught my eye on walks over the last couple of months.

First, here is the trunk of a gnarled, ancient-looking Mulberry tree, which is actually bearing succulent fruits. It stands in Stratford-Upon-Avon, in the garden of Shakespeare's Birthplace- not to be confused with another one in the grounds of New Place- where he died in 1616- which is claimed to be a cutting from a tree planted by Shakespeare himself.


And here are some of the fruits, though these happen to be ones on a tree in nearby Leamington Spa, where I was the following day:


When I was walking by the River Avon in the outskirts of Bath, I came across this Damson tree, in what once must have been an orchard:



On this same walk, but alongside the towpath of the Canal, there were these Slow berries. Finding the colour blue in nature, whether in flowers or fruits, is somehow always exciting- and Slows always enchant me with both this colour and their wonderful bloom:



These Elder berries were growing below the railway line, that runs parallel with- and between- the river and the canal:




The Rose hips were prolific in the hedgerows by the canal, making me regret having missed seeing their flowers- the fragile Dog Roses- in the early Summer:


These amazing Hawthorn berries also made me regret having missed their May Blossom:


These next two photos of Hawthorn berries were actually taken not in Bath but where I am staying at present, in Manorbier, on the South-West coast of Wales:



Wherever I've been in the country I've seen Rowan trees covered with berries- but these ones are on a little tree in my brother's garden in Bath:


Now this next image seems right out of season- we expect to see Holly berries ripe at Christmas, not in September. Seeing them now is like seeing Christmas decorations in the shops in the Summer- in fact, I was horrified to hear that this year Harrods opened its Santa's Grotto in July, 151 days before Christmas! In Valentines Park in Ilford the Holly trees were weighed down with their non-seasonal fruit:


My later childhood years were spent on the Malvern Hills, which mark the boundary between Worcestershire and Herefordshire. Both counties have wonderful orchards but the Apple orchards in Herefordshire (Cider making country) were memorable. Apple trees remind me of those rural days. These first two photos, however, were of a tree I saw on my Bath walk, in the same area as the Damson tree:



Whereas this next one- actually a Worcester apple tree- was in the garden of my friends' house in Stratford-Upon-Avon:


And this last charming little Russet apple tree is in the garden in Manorbier where I am now:


And here are some of its apples...



And these rosy ones are on a nearby tree:


This last green apple is a Bramley in Stratford-Upon-Avon:

Shakespeare in Bath + Tree!

When wallowing in Shakespeare in Stratford-Upon-Avon, I learned that there was an exceptional Royal Shakespeare Company production of The Tempest coming to Bath, where I am staying at present.
It was sold out at The Theatre Royal, but a total of 3 hours queuing secured me a standby ticket- and was well worth it.

What was wonderful about this production was that the RSC had combined with the South African Baxter Theatre Centre, including both black and white South Africans in cast and production. The result was an incredibly rich and exciting play with some great African actors, including Anthony Sher as Prospero and John Kani as Caliban,

This was a long awaited idea of Director Janice Honeyman, who wanted to emphasize the colonial aspects in order to relate to contemporary audiences. As she said “It is about greed, exploitation, dispossession of land, cultural plundering, racism, revenge, forgiveness, reconciliation and freedom. It sounds familiar?” Colonization had begun in the 16th Century and the story connects with the then current tales of colonization and adventures of English sailors. In the play Gonzalo discusses with Sebastian an idyllic Commonwealth without riches, poverty, metal, sovereignty etcetera – producing idle men and women but “innocent and pure”. The African imagery worked brilliantly.

And the set was- to my delight- dominated by a TREE! an African-handcrafted-tree that blended into the rocks. Janice Honeyman explains this: “Why do I see a a tree? A damaged, off-kilter tree…is it a revelation of the unravelling morass of Prospero’s mind as his power diminishes? Is it the ethereal environment of Ariel and the other-worldly spirits? Or is it the derelict domain of the disempowered Caliban? I think it is all of these, and more.”

The Designer- Illka Louw, together with the Puppetry master- Janni Younge- produced some fantastic images- amazing costumes and puppets. I only have the program photos to illustrate this, the first one showing part of the tree. To my mind they do not do justice to the wonderful splashes of colour which made this Tempest so memorable..

Images,1st3: Eric Miller, 4th RCA website.

Stratford-Upon-Avon: 2

Having already written at length about the Shakespeare Stratford, I now want to show a few images of trees both in Stratford and the surrounding countryside. I was particularly delighted on one of our walks to see some red Larch flowers, a particular favourite of mine:

Stratford-Upon-Avon: 1

Stratford-Upon-Avon= William Shakespeare

Last week I spent a couple of nights with friends in Stratford and somehow found that:

Stratford-Upon-Avon= William Shakespeare= Trees!

Wherever I went Shakespeare was prominent but the symbols I seemed to end up with were images of trees…

Appropriately, I stayed with a Shakespeare expert- ex. Head of Drama at Wolverhampton University and author of “The North Face of Shakespeare: Activities for Teaching the Plays”, James Stredder and his wife Kathy. Surprisingly, it was warm enough to have tea in their garden, a delightful garden full of Spring flowers and trees- Apple trees, a Pear tree and Greengage tree among others. James went to school at Malvern College where my father was Art Master and it was rewarding to hear him speak so warmly of his memories of both my parents.

On the first evening we went to a Royal Shakespeare Company preview production of “A Winter’s Tale”, which I found both visually exciting and emotional- Director: David Farr, Designer: Jon Bausor. Books were used as a dramatic theme: as the casts’ lives fell apart, the first half of the play climaxed in hundreds of books falling from collapsing bookshelves; the Bear who pursued Antigonous in Bohemia was a magnificent puppet clothed in book pages as were the dancing Satyrs. But of course what stayed in my mind was a tree with leaves of paper which descended from the flys for Perdita to make her entrance and for her and Florizel to climb.

The next morning, Kathy Stredder showed me round Stratford, pointing out the many buildings supported by The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Again, it seemed to be the trees that caught my eye and became my Shakespeare symbols- so here they are:

The Birthplace- where Shakespeare was born in 1564: tourists queue to enter, obscured by a gnarled tree.

New Place- the site of the house where he lived from 1597-1616: Yew hedges.

The Tomb- Holy Trinity Church where he was both baptized and buried (1616), in the chancel: a prehistoric monster-like cedar tree and a cut yew tree fronted by someonelse’s tombstone.