This week Neil’s journey takes us to one of the most beautiful glens in Scotland where we discover, what is believed to be, the oldest living thing in Europe - the Fortingall Yew.
The legendary Fortingall Yew nestles at the eastern end of Glen Lyon – the glen which Sir Walter Scott called the ‘longest, loneliest and loveliest in Scotland’. Many experts put the age of the yew at 9000 years old, which means it was a thousand years old before the British Isles were even created. The tree has seen so much history. Folklore in this part of Scotland has it that Pontious Pilate was born here and as a young child would shelter under the Fortingall Yew before he was whisked off to Rome and into the history books. What’s certain is, the tree and the glen are somewhere that have always mattered to our ancestors, a place that invites deep contemplation as you stand there and mark the long passage of time
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51. White Slavery, Dunashad Castle
50. Shakespeare & the Globe Theatre, London
49. Hampton Court Palace
48. The Spanish Armada, the Giant’s Causeway
47. Elizabeth I & the Spanish Armada
46. Francis Drake and the Golden Hind, Aldeburgh
45. The Battle of Flodden, Northumberland
44. Scotland’s Silver Brooch, Stirling
43. The League of Legends, Kings Lynn
42. Lost in the Mire, Morecambe Bay Sands, Lancashire
41. Last Stands of the Brave, Harlech Castle
40. The Wars of the Roses, Westminister Abbey
39. Making A King, Robert the Bruce
37. Glastonbury, Somerset
36. Robert the Bruce and the Declaration of Arbroath
35. St Nectan’s Glen, Cornwall
34. The heart of the British Isles, Snaefell, Isle of Man
33. Magna Carta
32. Durham Cathedral
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