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Article: HEARTS OF OAK; It helped England to see off Napoleon and the Spanish Armada, but will our greatest tree now be able to survive another deadly threat?
- Article from:
- Daily Mail (London)
- Article date:
- May 6, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: MICHAEL HANLON
ENGLAND is a country built on oak - a nation which grew up in the vast forests that have now sadly dwindled to a tiny shadow of their former glory.
Our cities and great buildings were constructed from oak, and so was our Empire. The great fighting ships that saw off the Armada and Napoleon, and which helped to paint large parts of the world British Empire red, were made of this most durable of woods.
England is, literally, a nation with a heart of oak.
But now a fungal disease is spreading which threatens to put paid to the remaining specimens of this most magnificent of trees.
The symptoms are ghastly.