The Glastonbury thorn on Christmas Day 2011

On Christmas Day 2010 I took a trip up to the Holy Glastonbury Thorn on Wearyall Hill and took some photographs here.  

At the time there was snow on the ground and the temperature was well below freezing, and the thorn, which had only a few days earlier (9th December) been chopped by vandals had been wrapped up to protect it from the elements.

Yesterday, a whole year later, I decided to take another Christmas Day stroll to the thorn to see how it is faring.  The day was much milder and the thorn is now exposed to the elements.  Unfortunately it appears to be virtually or even totally dead now.  There is no sign of any shoots, and even those that were evident a few months ago (see photo 2 above from 21st October 2011) have totally disappeared.

In other thorn related news however things are a little more rosy.  On 22nd December last year cuttings from the branches of the thorn severed by vandals were collected by Tony Kirkham, Head of the Arboretum at Kew's Royal Botanical Gardens and these scions were then grafted onto Hawthorn rootstock, and while they are still at a very delicate stage, several of these cuttings have now grown into healthy saplings.  As these are still too young to be planted they will remain at the Gardens for a further 12 months while plans for their future are finalised.