Alder- is a powerful tree, associated with fairy energies and the ability to harmonise the elements of water and fire. The sapwood can turn orange-reddish when it is first cut. Alder made good clogs because the wood is water resistant.

Apples- In Celtic tradition, the Otherwordly Avallon was also known as the Avallach, the Isle of Apples, ruled by Fairy Queen, Morgan le Fay. This is the land of fairies and the dead, where King Arthur was taken to be healed by his sister, Morgan. Like their cousins to the North, the Celts attributed the power of healing and youth, or rebirth, to apples. Apples are one of the magical trees, part of the Celtic Ogham tree alphabet, known as Quert.

The ancient name for Glastonbury was Avallon, which means "The Isle of Apples" in the ancient British language. Geological evidence conforms that Glastonbury was an island at that time.

Apple Crab- is a member of the Rose family, which includes other magical British Ogham trees, such as Rowan, Hawthorn and Blackthorn, as well as other fruit trees such as the Cherry, Plum and Pear trees.

Beech: The wood has no smell or taste & so it has been using for making children's toys & kitchen utensils. Beech nuts can be eaten, used for making vegetable oil & the leaves can be distilled to make liquor.

Beech was said to have been introduced to Britain by the Romans but the discovery of beech pollen dating back to 6000 BC in Hampshire proves that this tree is indeed a native and was present in Britain when the country became an island at the end of the last Ice Age.

Conifer - In the UK we have only three native conifers, Scots pine, Yew and Juniper.

Legend has it that a 7th century monk from Crediton, Devonshire, went to Germany to teach the Word of God. He used the triangular shape of the Fir Tree to describe the Holy Trinity of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and by the 12th century Fir Tree's where being hung from ceilings at Christmastime as a symbol of God's Tree and Christianity.

Elder - The name Elder‚ derives from the Anglo-Saxon word aeld, meaning fire. This may have arisen from the practise of using the hollow stems of the elder as bellows to encourage fires. It was, however, extremely bad luck to burn elder wood; if this happened the Devil was said to appear. Some of these old superstitions linger today; many modern hedge-cutters refuse to attack an elder for fear of bad luck. The cross used for the crucifixion of Jesus is said to have been made of elder wood, and the elder was the tree on which Judas tried to hang himself from.

Elder - Elderberries make a purple to lavender dye. The branches of the tree have hollow stems with easily removed pith, and are perfect for flutes or whistles.

Hawthorn - The most well-known old hawthorn is the Holy Thorn at Glastonbury, which flowers twice a year, once at Christmas and again in May. It was first referred to in a sixteenth century poem, and according to legend grew from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea when he thrust it into the ground during a visit to Britain in the first century AD

Hornbeam 'Horn' means 'hard' and refers to the tough hard wood, 'beam' was an Old English word for 'tree'.

Hazel – The Celts equated hazelnuts with concentrated wisdom and poetic inspiration, an ancient tale tells of nine hazel trees that grew around a sacred pool, dropping their nuts into the water to be eaten by salmon, the number of spots on a salmon are said to indicate how many nuts they have eaten. Druids revered these fish

Hazel - branches were burnt and the charcoal was used for making gun powder in the 13th century.

Holly – In Celtic Mythology the Holly King was said to rule over half of the year form the summer to the winter solstice, at which time the Oak King would defeat the Holly King until the summer solstice. Originally, holly was a fertility symbol because it retained its berries and shiny foliage throughout the winter, it was also thought to protect a house from witchcraft, goblins and fire. The wood was used to make horsewhips, as it was thought that the wood held a magical power over horses'.

The branches were once thought to protect houses from lightening & men from witchcraft. It was thought to be unlucky to cut one as it was the favourite tree of fairies.

Juniper – the earliest recorded medicinal use in the Egyptian papyrus in 1500 BC to cure tapeworm infestation. Illicit whisky stills used the wood for fuel, as the near absence of smoke would not attract the excise men.

Lime trees - Rope was made from the inner bark of the Lime tree. It is known in the trade as basswood, particularly in North America. This name originates from the inner fibrous bark of the tree, known as bast (Old English language). A very strong fibre was obtained from this by peeling off the bark and soaking in water for a month; after which the inner fibres can be easily separated.

Maple - It is said that a child passing through a split Maple could look forward to a long life.

Oak – In Somerset stands two ancient oaks Gog and Magog (named after the last male and female giants to roam Britain). Acorns were once widely used as pigs feed; they were also ground down to make a substitute for coffee and even a type of bread.

In Celtic mythology the Oak tree is the tree of doors, believed to be a gateway between worlds, or a place where portals could be erected, the trees were widely spread replacing the lime tree as the main sacred tree.)

It is said that St Teilo, travelled round Brittany on a deer, one day whilst riding on his deer, he was chased by a pack of hunting dogs and sought refuge up an oak tree. The Oak tree still exists today and is said to have special powers of healing and protection.

Oak Apple Day occurs on the 29th of May, and commemorates the return of Charles II to London after exile. During exile, he hid inside an oak tree, and he declared that the 29th of May should be set aside as a holiday. . Britain has more ancient Oaks than any other country in western Europe. Ink was made from Oak Galls. Oaks don't usually bear acorns until they are about 20 years old.

Poplar - the leaves are forever moving because it was punished for being the wood that made Christ's cross & it's other name is 'Shiver-tree'. In some countries they are known as 'Devil's Fingers' as they are unlucky to touch as they would bring calamity to the unfortunate person.

Rowan – Druids used the bark and berries to dye the garments that they wore during lunar ceremonies.

Rowan - in Scotland there was & still is belief that where a Rowan grows it conveys health & wealth to the household.

Scots Pine – In England it was commonly used to mark drovers roads. Shipbuilders would not fell a pine tree during the waning of the moon as it affected the resin content. Botanists now recognise this as true.

Sweet Chestnuts - were used in divination ritual. Girls set named nuts on the fire bars and chanted:

Maidens, name your chestnuts true.
The first to burst belongs to you!

The favoured suitor's nut would 'burst with love for her'.

Sycamore - Celts introduced the Sycamore tree from Gaul where they used the ground down seeds to make a flour or gruel from. Although not a native species, the sycamore and its helicopter seeds has become a feature of many local cultures. In Wales, clogs and love-spoons are made from sycamore. In the West country harvest cakes were baked upon sycamore leaves. The most famous sycamore tree is the Martyrs' Tree on Tolpuddle Green in Dorset. In the 1830's the Tolpuddle Martyrs formed the first agricultural trade union beneath this famous tree, as meetings of this kind were illegal in the 1830's so they were deported to Australia. The tree still survives and is currently cared for by the Trades Union Congress.

Yew - deadly poisonous to livestock, usually these days only found in churchyards as it was planted to prevent plague.

Whitebeam - in its various local forms, is found in isolated places throughout England, Scotland and Wales. One of these species, S. leyana, is limited in its range to a few shrubs growing near Merthyr Tydfil in Brecon whilst, S. wilmottiana is found only in the Avon Gorge near Bristol.

Wild Service tree - The fruit has been eaten in many parts of the country but it has to be left to go rotten first, or 'bletted' before it is edible. The fruit was also used to make an alcoholic liquor called Chequers, which was sold across the county in Chequers Inns.

Bracket fungi
Bracket fungi grows on the trunks of birch
trees. In the past these fungi were used to sharpen razor blades. Nowadays some people use them as a canvas for their paintings.

Strange but true:

Strangers - Although Celtic-speaking peoples were living in Britain before the arrival of invaders from Friesland and Jutland it was the invaders languages which developed into English and it was the Celts who came to be called "strangers" in the English language. The descendants of one of the Celtic peoples, Welsh, and their homeland, Wales, comes from the Old English word wealh, meaning "foreigner, stranger, Celt." Its plural wealas is the direct ancestor of Wales, literally "foreigners".

The Romans introduced the common brown snail into the UK as food

Snails have more teeth than any other animal, having anything from fifteen to fifty thousand teeth.

The Cheater can accelerate from a standing start to seventy miles an hour in 3 seconds, which makes then the fastest animal and faster than any production car including Ferrari’s, Porsche’s and Masarates.

If the Teilo tradition is true, it indicates Welsh knowledge of cultivated apples in the C6th (about 200 years after the last Roman garrisons left Britain). The Afallennau is generally considered to have been composed sometime between the C6th and C9th. In the C10th we find the possible references to cultivation and propagation in the Laws of Hywel Dda. Around the end of the C12th come more references to sweet apples in the 'Red Book of Hergest' and elsewhere.