Flooding in Powys: Crickhowell hopes rare tree will live on

People in Powys have been trying to save parts of a rare tree which was uprooted by the recent floods.

One of the last mature specimens of European black poplars was ripped from the banks of the River Usk in Crickhowell.

Storm Dennis brought the worst flooding the town had seen for 40 years.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, residents took cuttings in the hope of propagating hundreds of new trees.

It is part of an ambitious plan by the town to plant a million trees in the Brecon Beacons and the surrounding area.

The European black poplar is one of Europe's rarest types of tree, so when the recent floods destroyed the last full-sized specimen on the Usk, people in Crickhowell decided to take action to try to save what they could of it.

John Gibbs, a former tree pathologist with the Forestry Commission, said the native poplar was once "highly regarded" for its timber but fell out of fashion when hybrid poplars were introduced 200 years ago.

From Crickhowell himself, he said he had often admired the town's tree, but only realised it was special when he came across some research.

"In my time with the Forestry Commission I had noticed a paper had been written about clones of black poplar and to my delight one of its strongholds was in Crickhowell," he said.

"I particularly think of the tree in late winter when the catkins are just coming into full flowers and it's the most wonderful orange and when the whole tree is covered with these catkins it's as if a golden glow is cast over the tree."

Together with others, he has now cut about 200 shoots which local people hope to grow and then plant back out on the river bank once they are strong enough to take hold.

These efforts are part of a much bigger initiative which has taken hold in the town - a plan to plant a million trees in the Brecon Beacons and surrounding area.

Some have already been planted on land donated by farmers, with the public given access to the new woodland.

Farmer Keith Powell, from a scheme called Stump Up For Trees, believes he has found a way to plant the rest.

"We don't want to plant trees on prime agricultural land, so we have identified so far steep bracken banks - very common in Wales, some estimates say there are 100,000 hectares of them - bracken only grows on good soil so if bracken is growing there trees will grow there," he said.

He estimates that to plant a million trees will cost £4.5m and he hopes to get corporate sponsorship - but in the meantime the town is busy raising money.

"I think the whole zeitgeist of the population has changed now. People are really into planting trees, people are looking for ways to take responsibility.

"Coffee shops have got loyalty cards and instead of getting a free cup of coffee you get a tree planted for you," he said.

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