The Cubbington Pear, England’s Tree of the Year 2015

Dear Readers, you might think that being ‘England’s Tree of the Year’ would be some protection for a 250 year-old pear tree. You might think that being the second-largest pear tree in England would help. You might think that a ten-year campaign by local people and a petition with 20,000 signatures would help to prevent it from being cut down to make way for HS2, the UK’s premier transport white elephant. But you would be wrong, of course. The Cubbington Pear was cut down on 20th October 2020, to the dismay of those who knew the tree.

You might think that that’s the end of the story, but not quite. For a start, 40 grafted cuttings were grown from the original tree, which means there are saplings which are almost the same as their parent. To spell it out, however, you cannot compare a ten year-old sapling with a 250 year-old tree in terms of the carbon that it sequesters or the biodiversity that it supports. This is not a like-for-like situation. Plus, 38% of the replacement trees planted along the HS2 route have already died. HS2 bosses are saying that it was cheaper to replace those trees rather than water them during the drought conditions of last year. What makes them think that the replacement trees won’t also be susceptible to drought? Words fail me. There is so much greenwash about, and so many people who think that everything can be bought and paid for. Some things are beyond price.

‘Cubbington’ pears grown at Crowder’s Nursery

But what is interesting is that after the public outcry leading up to the cutting-down of the Cubbington Pear, the stump and root ball were moved to a field 100 metres away from the original site, and replanted. There, in what local people describe as a ‘2 fingers to HS2’, the plant has survived the drought and is cheerfully resprouting new shoots and leaves. Of course, it will never be the same again – I suspect it will end up more like a pear shrub than a pear tree – but it gives me a lift to see that the original tree lives on, and will hopefully outlive those who decided that the destruction of 2 hectares of ancient woodland could be recompensed by some dying saplings.

Regrowth from the stump of the Cubbington Pear (Photo from https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/oct/26/ancient-pear-tree-comes-back-to-life-after-being-felled-to-make-way-for-hs2)

You can read about the way that the Cubbington Pear is fighting back here.