By Breeze
Balloch Castle Country Park is a place of great beauty and natural wonders.
I believe it hosts the most magnificent ash tree in the most stunning location in Scotland.
This ash is hundreds of years old and although it has stood on the lawn exposed to dozens of storms over its long life, its strong roots and the intricate buttressing on its trunk have served it well and gripped the land like a vice.
Ash is one of Scotland’s tallest, most graceful and most useful trees.
Almost 1,000 species use ash (more than 100 species are almost entirely dependent on ash), including wood mice, liverworts, wrens, blue tits, bats, lichens, fungi and beetles.
Bullfinches eat ash keys (seeds) in winter, when food is scarce, and caterpillars of many kinds feed on ash leaves.
Ash wood is used in furniture, sports equipment, tool handles and is one of our country’s best native hardwoods for burning.
Ash trees are the third most abundant native tree in the UK and are a vital part of woodland diversity and Scotland’s historic natural identity.
Sadly 60% or more of all our ash trees are expected to succumb to the fungal dieback disease called Chalara.
Many ash trees have already died or been felled. Balloch Park’s magnificent ash may have dieback but there is hope that mature ash trees can survive the disease for many, many years.
Surely we must do everything we can to look after this living legend?