I first discovered this tree in 1998 when I moved house to Keepers Cottage, Ridley. I was exploring my nearest village, Beltingham and the very pretty church of St Cuthbert. Inside the church was a history leaflet and it mentioned the church's Yew trees, the biggest of which is behind the church. Its estimated age was at least 900 years. So I went to investigate.
Since then I have made many pilgrimages to be with this tree as there is so much to explore.
When I made some copper plate etchings in 2013 I turned to the Yew tree.
Ink and pencil drawings and below a rubbing taken from the bark.
When I began to make relief prints from tree rounds I was very lucky to be given a round from the Allen Banks Yew which is 198 years old and fell in 2018. This Yew grew approximately a mile from the church. The interior of yew trees are as interesting as their shapes and patterns on the exterior.
If you are interested to visit this tree its grid reference is:
NY7896963976.
It's listed on the Ancient Tree register web site as tree number: 28103
https://goo.gl/maps/AtXwptiTVqEkK2Wh7