Nellie's Tree near Leeds was crafted into the shape of a letter 'N' by a local man trying to woo his girlfriend Nellie in 1920.
Though referred to as "the tree" in the singular form it is actually three separate beech trees that have been crafted together. Around 1920 a young miner and keen amateur gardener, Vic Stead, resided in regularly made the trip to Aberford by foot along the "Fly-line", a disused colliery railway, to see his girlfriend Nellie who worked there as a dairy maid. Near to Aberford, Stead found three beech saplings growing in a row and crafted the central tree onto the two adjacent ones in a diagonal fashion to form the shape of the capital letter "N" This was intended as a gesture of his love for Nellie and as a means of impressing her. It was apparently successful in this regard as the couple later married. The tree is known as the "Love Tree" locally and has become a popular site for marriage proposals. Writer Richard Mabey has described it as "one of the most touching twentieth-century landmark trees" in his 1996 work Flora Britannica and The Woodland Trust have called it a "northern gem".Nellie's Tree has become the symbol of the Save Parlington Action Group, a local campaign against development of the woodland.
Size: 6291px × 4194px
Location: Aberford,Leeds LS25 3EG
Photo credit: © Yorkshire Pics / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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