The Hanging Tree

My journey home takes me past an unusual tree. It is enormous and very dead. It stands proudly by itself at the edge of a pasture. It looks as if it is the victim of a lightning strike: Not a single leaf hangs from its twisted bare limbs -- just an old tyre and rope swing. It's the sort of tree you would imagine mobs would use for lynchings and I therefore call it the Hanging Tree. It has a striking and haunting beauty. Every time I drive past I think to myself that I should stop and take a photo of it for posterity.

Last week when I drove past, a man WAS taking a photo of it. It reassured me to know that I wasn't the only person who saw beauty in the dead giant. I'm not mad.

If you want to see the tree for yourself, it's on the B482, just on the right as you across the M40 travelling from Stokenchurch to Cadmore End.