Plant Plot

Gnosall allotment flood at plots 20 22 06/07/2013

This is the only known video of the brook spilling into the allotments in Gnosall. The brook was also flowing backwards during this event.

Fire at The Huntsman (was Kings Arms) in Harborne, Birmingham, 9th July 2013 - 2

Fire at The Huntsman (was Kings Arms) in Harborne, Birmingham, 9th July 2013

English elm (Ulmus procera) - leaves - October 2017

English elms were once a very common sight in the countryside of Europe, North America and Asia. However, this majestic tree was devastated by Dutch elm disease, a fungal infection that claimed an estimated 25 million trees in Britain alone.

Sadly this iconic tree has now all but disappeared from the landscape. It will be remembered on rich farmland soils and parklands throughout the country, it is also a classic hedgerow tree of English lowlands.

Mature English elms can grow to over 30 metres tall, producing a fine wood that has great strength and durability. They are deciduous trees that lose their leaves in the winter and the small winged seeds are dispersed by the wind in autumn.

The bark is dark brown, rough and fissured. Suckers are produced freely from the base of the trunk. The twigs are short and hairy. Buds are ovoid, pointed and hairy. Leaves are round to oval, toothed with a rough, hairy surface texture (4–9cm) with very uneven bases at the leaf stalk: a familiar characteristic of all elms.

English elms are hermaphrodites: they have ‘perfect’ flowers with both sexes represented in one flower. Flowers hang in tassels, dark pink to red, and are produced before the tree comes into leaf. The fruits are tiny nutlets encased in the upper part of a thin, oval-shaped, papery wing but they are rarely produced. English elm is wind pollinated.

English elm is native to southern and eastern Europe. Despite its common name, it may only be native to southern England. It is thought to have been introduced by early colonisers.

Full-sized trees are attractive and majestic, and in the past they dominated the English countryside on rich farmland soils. They were also planted as an ornamental tree and have a number of subspecies and hybrids.

The heartwood of English elm is a dull brown colour; the sapwood is paler. Growth rings are irregular and the wood has a coarse texture. The timber is strong and able to resist strains which cause other timbers to split.

The timber can produce a good decorative veneer and has been used to make furniture, chair seats, wooden wheel hubs and, because of its ability to withstand saturation, water pipes, canal barges and boat keels. The leaves were shredded and used as cattle fodder.

English elm was planted extensively during the enclosure movement of the late 18th century. It became a popular hedge species due to its habit of growing and spreading from suckers. It was frequently coppiced and pollarded.

Before metal was widely available, many English towns had water mains supplied from pipes made from elm wood, including Bristol, Reading, Exeter, Southampton, Hull and Liverpool.

Elms used to be associated with melancholy and death, perhaps because the trees can drop dead branches without warning. Elm wood was also the preferred choice for coffins. In Lichfield it was the custom to carry elm twigs in a procession around the Cathedral Close on Ascension Day, then to throw them in the font.

Many birds eat elm seeds and the leaves provide food for the caterpillars of many moths, including the peppered, light emerald and white spotted pinion moths. Caterpillars of the white letter hairstreak butterfly feed on elms and the species has declined dramatically since Dutch elm disease arrived in the UK.

Bark and seed of elm were important source of food in the Europe during the famine at the beginning of the 19th century. Seed were especially prized due to high content of proteins and dietary fibers.

Healthy tree can survive 200 to 300 years in the wild. Elm affected by Dutch elm disease cannot survive more than 30 years.

30 More Famous Stories Retold | Short Stories in English with subtitles | Stories to Learn English

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Columbus and the Egg.
Upon A Peak in Darien First Story.
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Anglo-Saxons | Wikipedia audio article

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:



00:03:21 1 Ethnonym
00:06:42 2 Contemporary meanings
00:11:09 3 Early Anglo-Saxon history (410–660)
00:12:30 3.1 Migration (410–560)
00:18:54 3.2 Development of an Anglo-Saxon society (560–610)
00:22:11 3.3 Conversion to Christianity (590–660)
00:25:52 4 Middle Anglo-Saxon history (660–899)
00:27:13 4.1 Mercian supremacy (626–821)
00:29:52 4.2 Learning and monasticism (660–793)
00:32:49 4.3 West Saxon hegemony and the Anglo-Scandinavian Wars (793–878)
00:38:46 4.4 King Alfred and the rebuilding (878–899)
00:42:33 5 Late Anglo-Saxon history (899–1066)
00:43:24 5.1 Reform and formation of England (899–978)
00:47:58 5.2 Athelred and the return of the Scandinavians (978–1016)
00:51:29 5.3 Conquest England: Danes, Norwegians and Normans (1016–1066)
00:57:11 6 After the Norman Conquest
01:01:08 7 Life and society
01:01:42 7.1 Kingship and kingdoms
01:08:12 7.2 Religion and the church
01:14:10 7.3 Fighting and warfare
01:22:16 7.4 Settlements and working life
01:26:50 7.5 Women, children and slaves
01:31:09 8 Culture
01:31:18 8.1 Architecture
01:40:02 8.2 Art
01:49:53 8.3 Language
01:56:05 8.4 Kinship
02:00:02 8.5 Law
02:06:49 8.6 Literature
02:12:55 8.7 Symbolism
02:18:59 9 See also
02:19:35 10 Notes
02:19:44 11 Citations
02:20:06 12 Further reading
02:20:15 12.1 General



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SUMMARY
=======
The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited Great Britain from the 5th century. They comprise people from Germanic tribes who migrated to the island from continental Europe, their descendants, and indigenous British groups who adopted many aspects of Anglo-Saxon culture and language; the cultural foundations laid by the Anglo-Saxons are the foundation of the modern English legal system and of many aspects of English society; the modern English language owes over half its words – including the most common words of everyday speech – to the language of the Anglo-Saxons. Historically, the Anglo-Saxon period denotes the period in Britain between about 450 and 1066, after their initial settlement and up until the Norman conquest.
The early Anglo-Saxon period includes the creation of an English nation, with many of the aspects that survive today, including regional government of shires and hundreds. During this period, Christianity was established and there was a flowering of literature and language. Charters and law were also established. The term Anglo-Saxon is popularly used for the language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons in England and eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. In scholarly use, it is more commonly called Old English.The history of the Anglo-Saxons is the history of a cultural identity. It developed from divergent groups in association with the people's adoption of Christianity, and was integral to the establishment of various kingdoms. Threatened by extended Danish invasions and military occupation of eastern England, this identity was re-established; it dominated until after the Norman Conquest. The visible Anglo-Saxon culture can be seen in the material culture of buildings, dress styles, illuminated texts and grave goods. Behind the symbolic nature of these cultural emblems, there are strong elements of tribal and lordship ties. The elite declared themselves as kings who developed burhs, and identified their roles and peoples in Biblical terms. Above all, as Helena Hamerow has observed, local and extended kin groups remained...the essential unit of production throughout the Anglo-Saxon period. The effects persist in the 21st century as, according to a study published in March 2015, the genetic makeup of British populations today shows divisions of the tribal political units of the early Anglo-Saxon peri ...