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The Cubbington pear tree is the second-largest in the country, a local landmark and was England’s tree of the year in 2015. Yet, despite years of protests, it is being felled for a railway line
On a recent visit to see the Cubbington pear tree, Anne Langley was sad to see that the woods around it in Warwickshire had been blocked off to visitors and a sign erected warning against trespassing. “It’s tragic,” she says. “There were people patrolling the fence when I went, to keep people out.”
The wild tree on the outskirts of South Cubbington wood is a famous local landmark and was voted England’s tree of the year in 2015. Langley, 77, decided to visit after she heard about the accolade so that she could write about it for a Warwickshire community website. When she did, she was struck by its “astonishing” size. “I was walking up the footpath and there on the horizon was this tree, standing out from the edge of the woods,” she says. “It dominates the view.” Continue reading...