The Allerton Oak is vying to become the first UK tree to be crowned European Tree of the Year.
It was recently crowned England’s Tree of the Year by the Woodland Trust, and is now entered into the wider European competition.
The tree, which stands in the city’s Calderstones Park and was once home to a medieval court, received an impressive 34 per cent of more than 11,000 votes cast in the Woodland Trust’s annual competition.
On Saturday, 1 February at 10:30am, supporters will gather at the tree to hear a presentation from campaigner Rob McBride about the competition and the other trees on the shortlist.
Children’s writer Jude Lennon will read her story ‘The Dragon of the Allerton Oak’.
This will be followed by judging at the Mansion House of an Art and Poetry Competition about tree – with the winning poem and piece of artwork displayed in the European Parliament in Brussels on Awards Day in March.
CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR ALLERTON OAK: https://www.treeoftheyear.org/vote
Cabinet member for environment and sustainability, Councillor Laura Robertson-Collins, at Liverpool City Council, said: “The Allerton Oak is a much-loved and cherished tree in the heart of one of our beautiful parks and is hugely popular with visitors.
“It is fantastic it has received this recognition and our thanks go to the many people who voted for it – and we’re now asking for them to vote for it as European Tree of the Year.
“We’re committed to planting thousands of trees over the next few years and our hope is that at least one of them may last as long as the Allerton Oak.”
FOUR FACTS ABOUT THE ALLERTON OAK
1: Legend has it that in medieval times the local court, known as a ‘Hundred Court’ would meet under the branches of the tree, as they lacked a courthouse.
2: Today the tree is fenced off to protect it, and its heavy boughs are supported by metal poles.
3: Liverpool City Council has been working in partnership with The Mersey Forest to preserve the lifespan of the Allerton Oak, with a new propping mechanism with built in flexibility to adapt as the tree continues to grow and sustain it long term.
4: The value of the tree is conservatively estimated at over £500,000.
