According to an article I read on the Daily Mail website within the past few days, there seem to be posible plans afoot to get rid of the holy thorn on Wearyall Hill in Glastonbury and replace it with a new one grafted from the branches which were chopped off by vandals last December, possibly to coincide with the celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee which of course will be celebrated in 2012.

According to Cllr. John Coles who was quoted in the article, if it is replaced the new tree could even be monitored by CCTV, which to me sounds to be quite an expensive solution in these times of austerity.

Apparently trophy hunters are snapping off the newly growing shoots and taking them home, presumably to try to grow their own thorn.

Did anyone else read the article, and if so what do you think of it? Looking at the comments below the article many readers of the site don't seem to care too much about the thorn, but then again most of them don't appear to be from the Glastonbury area, but then again the tree is only around 60 years old and not as old as the legends make it out to me, so does it really matter if it is replaced with a younger, stronger and healthier one? I have no strong feelings on the matter either way if I'm honest, and I've only taken the trouble to wander up to inspect the tree once since it was attacked but I would be interested to see what other people think about the plans, either for a replant or for CCTV.

A link is here in case anyone wants to take a look: http://tinyurl.com/3djqu5r

Leave the present tree where it is, and plant the new tree in close proximity.

The old tree (60yrs.) will need another 60 yrs to recover, and look like it was.

It is a stupid idea, and as you say expensive to set up a CCTV system.

I am not that interested as to whether it is a holy tree or even symbolic to some people. A tree is a natural gift to us all and its destruction is detestable.
I and my dog walk up and around Wearyall Hill every day, because it is a beautiful place to be particularly early morning and at sunset. Amazingly I have not seen any of those people who were photographed in the local paper, lamenting the loss of a great "Friend", talk about throwing up!

Jim Barron.

Perhaps the tree looked down on the Morlands Lack of industry Park, the builders merchants,B & Q , Macdonalds, Subway, Travel Lodge etc etc and just commited a sort of tree suicide at the though of a Tesco there as well to spoil it's view

The views from the East and South compensate for the industrial site all you have to do is turn round and open your eyes. The industrial site is invaluable to this town, and I might add the sooner the old Imco Factory disappears the better it will be. Yes I expect a response to that comment, thank God for our various ways of thinking. Something that Glastonbury is never short of.

Jim Barron.

simple answer to the problem. Let the old stay and if some idiot hadn't wrapped it up in plastic over the winter it would grown more shoots. If you want a jubilee tree just call the one in the churchyard "The Jubilee Tree". It will be safer there than on top of the hill. I wish people like CLL Coles would use his brains for the right reasone instead of trying to grab the limelight. CCTV indeed,what a load of toss.

Good on yer Skootaman, that's what I call entrepreneurial (had to use the dictionary for that one) thinking.

Jim Barron.