"Bre's Tree" Linslade Bedfordshire

A Memory of Linslade.

I lost my wife on new years eve 2021 following three years of her illness with vascular dementia. No one really told me how things would progress with this dreadful illness and so I just tried my hardest to cram everything that I could into the time that we had left together. Picnic rides out to our our favourite places, Dunstable Downs, Ashridge Park, Bluebell Woods, Woburn Park, Windsor Park and every garden centre in our locality. Although we had been married for 53 years I had not previously understood her love of "trees". Wherever we now travelled trees were always the highlight of out trip, single trees, groups of trees or forests of trees were excitedly pointed out to me, whereas previously I would never have noticed them. But one tree in particular stood out from the rest, a beautiful "Copper Beech" that stands on a right hand bend in the road leading to Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire when coming from the village of Wing. It is a downhill stretch of road and the tree sweeps majestically into view, appearing at centre stage through the windscreen. We would visit Linslade in all seasons and watch out as the tree came into view, firstly bare in winter when as the seasons progressed spread its branches of deep red leaves before turning golden brown and falling to the ground in autumn. This tree gave to us to much joy and a love of nature and will now with the blessing of the landowner very soon bear a plaque "Bre's Tree" in lasting memory of my very dear wife.
John Russell
Harlington
Beds

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