The tree amigos of Astonishing Glasgow Ep78

In Episode 78 of Astonishing Glasgow I will take you on a tour of the city to meet three of its astonishing trees.

The wishing tree, the women’s tree and the winning tree all feature in this episode and they all deserve to be celebrated.

If you enjoy this episode, remember to hit the like and subscribe buttons and don’t forget to check out the other episodes on my channel.

Check out David Treanor’s website for more about the Argyle ash and lend your support to it being the European tree of 2026.

https://www.treewisetreesurgeons.co.uk/glasgow-tree-of-the-year

Treat yourself to some merch from the Astonishing Glasgow shop;
https://astonishing-glasgow.myspreadshop.co.uk/

If you want to get in touch, leave a comment here or via my social media pages on Facebook and Instagram pages here;

https://www.facebook.com/Astonishing-Glasgow-101887402043234
https://www.instagram.com/astonishingglasgow/

Dave

#astonishingglasgow #glasgow #glasgowlife #scottishhistory #glasgowhistory #cycling #cyclingglasgow #scottishcycling #argyleashtree #argylestreet #theargyleash #treeoftheyear #finnieston #pollok #pollokpark #suffragette #kelvingrove #glasgowwestend #westend #forrest #glasgowparks

Where can you go in Pock Park to sit by the beach? And why is the city’s bark better than its bite? Find out now in this episode of Astonishing Glasgow. [Music] Autumn is coming in 2025 and I thought it was a good time to share the story of three of Glasgow’s astonishing trees. The deer green place will soon be the dear brown, gold, orange, and red place as the leaves turn. And as we are blessed with so much parkland, it can be difficult sometimes to see the trees for the woods. And you do not want to miss these trees. The first tree that I’m taking you to see today is in Pollock Country Park on the south side of the city. This is Glasgow’s biggest park. And as well as Pollock House, the burrow collection, and the city’s own Highland cattle fold, very much the crowd-pleasers, it also has some truly ancient trees within its grounds. Pollock House itself is closed for work right now, so I can go into the gardens through the main gate, but I’m not really complaining because the entrance from this side ain’t exactly ugly. To get to the first tree, I’m heading upstream towards the stables, which are also in the process of being saved at the moment. That gate is closed, but the gate we want is to the left and through the old carriage entrance. As usual, the subject of an astonishing Glasgow video is right at the top of a long hill and then right at the top of a huge flight of steps. Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey, [Music] heat. Hey. [Music] I’m going to need oxygen at the end of this section, and there is still another flight of steps to go. Before I reveal the beach, I do need to warn you that tree lovers with a nervous disposition should brace themselves. At the top of this mound are the remains of a tree that stood here loving life for around 250 years. It’s not all a happy story, however, as it was set fire to in 2017 by vandals and it split in half. It was known as the wishing tree and it was almost a pilgrimage for people to visit the tree and tie brightly colored string and ribbon to its branches. It was thought it would bring good luck and make people’s wishes come true. A tradition that started with the ancient Kelts. The mound that it stands on is thought to have been the location of the second castle occupied by the Maxwell family before they moved into Pock House. Doesn’t look much now. And admittedly, when it was alive, it didn’t look particularly pretty. But hey, she was 250 years old and I look rough and I’m only well I’m not yet 50. So what’s my excuse? I just wish the thoughtless vandals hadn’t set fire to it on the 29th of April 2017. Now I’m no arborulturalist, but it does look like some of the shoots are growing out of what’s left of the trunk. And Glasgow Botanic Gardens took cutings in 2017 after the fire. So, all being well, the wishing tree survives, at least in part. At the very least, nature is making good use of the remains as they slowly disintegrate back into the ground. Look at these weird mushrooms. They didn’t taste very nice, though. Kidding. Kidding. I was too busy looking for dock leaves after stepping into stingy nettles wearing shorts. Ah. Ah, back down the hill and back amongst the dirty weed ascles. Fun fact, in 2016, I brought my we niece Aaron here on New Year’s Day. And when she wanted to race up this hill, we didn’t even think to look for a flight of steps. Many woolen gloves, jackets, and trousers ended up muddy that day, and my car seats have never recovered. But for the next tree, I need to leave Pollock Park and head west back into the city. While I do that, please hit those like and subscribe buttons if you haven’t already. I need those extra clicks just to justify off-roading on completely the wrong kind of bike tire. Before we get to the next tree, there are two obstacles we have to get over. Firstly, it’s the 16 lanes of the M8 motorway. Then it is to get across the river Clyde. Quickly stopping off for a buzz from the spray paint fumes. And although it’s not part of this episode, I do love this old mill building on Old Dumbartan Road. The Bishop’s Mill was built in the 1830s, but there has been a mill here since the 1600s. The building’s now apartment, but I do love the wheat sheets on the gable ends, but that’s completely off topic. So, back to the trees. I am almost at the next tree, and it’s on a very familiar road if you have watched episode 76 of Astonishing Glasgow. At the end of Kelvin Way, lined with what I believe are London plain trees, is a tree that is different to all the rest. But you wouldn’t necessarily pay attention if it wasn’t for the signpost that stands in front of it. As the sign proclaims, this was Scotland’s tree of the year in 2015. But why did it gain this honor? The tree, a Hungarian oak, was planted in 1918 to celebrate the success of the suffragette movement and gaining the rights for women to vote in a general election in Britain. There are some caveats, however. Women had to be over the age of 30 and they had to own property above the value of £5. But you could say from the small acorns, the mighty oaks will grow. The tree was planted on April the 20th, 1918 by Louisa London, a Scottish pioneer of female education. She was the president of the Aberdine branch of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage. And when the Scottish suffragette organizations arranged for the planting of this tree, it was Louisa at the age of 78 who was chosen to have the honor of planting the suffragette oak. And to this very day, the tree still wears ribbons in the color of the suffrage movement. The tree became nominated for Tree of the Year 2015 by the Glasgow Women’s Library to celebrate and honor the world changing achievements of women everywhere. Even though it suffered significant damage during storm Ailia in 2017, it still stands strong right beside the most useless pedestrian crossing in Glasgow. [Music] Until literally a few days before making this video in September 2025, the suffrage oak was Glasgow’s only winning tree of the year. But I’m delighted to announce we can now add another champion. And this time it is far easier to find. Only about half a mile from the suffrey oak, the 2025 tree of the year stands proudly on Argyle Street and has been used as a landmark by generations of Glaswegians. From handsome carriages, trams, buses, and taxi drivers. All you had to do was tell the driver you wanted to go to the tree on Aro Street, and this is where they would bring you. Thought to be around 170 years old, the tree has stood and watched as the city went about its business. The colon Galapagus tortoise, it stands completely alone with no other trees for company, only sandstone and tarmac, which makes its survival even more remarkable. The earliest mention of the tree in print was in 1935 when James Cowan wrote an essay titled A Tree on Argyle Street. By that point, it was already around 80 years old, 75 ft tall, and as straight as a ship’s mast. Its survival in such an urban setting is nothing short of a miracle. But it also has a lot to do with the foresight of Glasgow City Council who in 1980 safeguarded the tree with the very first tree protection order on record. The tree protection order means that the asht tree is monitored and maintained by professionals. And it was down to David Trainer, the arborist who has looked after her for the last 5 years that the Argyo Street ash was nominated for and won the 2025 tree of the year accolade presented by the Woodlands Trust. When our tree got through to the final stages of the competition, she was up against five other nominees, including an oak that inspired a Radio Head album and a cedar that appeared in a 1966 Beatles video. Tough competition. The Arg Street Ash was the only finalist to stand in an urban setting, but this played in its favor. As Glaswegians lent their support, votes flooded in because so many of us have a connection to the tree. And long may it survive for many more generations to come. The next step for the tree is to see if it can take the title as European Tree of the Year 2026. And I will post a link to David Trainer’s web page in the description below if you want to follow its progress and add your vote if it gets through to the finals. Let’s make the Argyle Street Ash world famous. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tour of three of Glasgow’s trees with a tail. If you did, please hit that like and subscribe button. And if it’s your first time here, check out the other videos in my Astonishing Glasgow series. If you would like to help me continue telling stories about our great city, you can purchase t-shirts, hats, hoodies, and stickers over on my Spreadshot page. If you would like to leave a donation, please hit the super thanks button below. Every penny is gratefully received, and these are the superstars who donated after the last episode. You can get in touch by leaving a comment or head over to my social media pages. Again, all the links are down below. Thank you all very much for watching and I will see you next time in astonishing Glasgow. [Music] Now, I need to make like a tree and leave. But before I do, I’m going to go and grab a caramel log out the biscuit tin. See you all.