Northern Ireland ‘peace tree' in running to become UK's Tree of the Year
Ten trees have been chosen under the theme 'Rooted in Culture', which seeks to highlight how trees inspire creative minds and become ingrained in the cultural landscape.
Woodland Trust patron Dame Judi Dench said: 'Our oldest trees hold more stories than Shakespeare; some were putting down roots long before he began writing, more than 400 years ago.'
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A panel of experts selected nine of the nomonees, while the public chose a wildcard entry.
The Tree of Peace and Unity at the Dunadry Hotel near Antrim town — a lime formed of two trees that grew together into a single trunk — became a symbol of reconciliation when Tony Blair, John Hume and David Trimble sat under it during the Good Friday Agreement negotiations in 1998.
Meanwhile, a 300-year-old cedar in Chiswick was used as a backdrop in The Beatles' video for Rain in 1966.
And the Knole Park Oak in Kent, thought to be Britain's tallest at 135ft, made the list as it's believed to have inspired an epic poem in Woolf's novel Orlando.
Elsewhere, the Argyle Street Ash gets a nod. It was referred to as 'quite the most graceful ash I have seen' by James Cowan in his 1935 book From Glasgow's Treasure Chest.
Also in the running are the Borrowdale Yews in Cumbria, a huddle of ancient trees described by William Wordsworth in a 1803 poem.
The King of Limbs in Wiltshire made the list after Radiohead named their 2011 album after the ancient oak.
As did the Lollipop Tree on Salisbury Plain, which is seen in the final scenes of Sam Mendes's World War One film 1917.
Also nominated was the Lonely Tree in Llanberis in Wales, which features in Netflix's upcoming series of The Witcher.
Voting is open until September 19 via the Woodland Trust website.
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