Books by Simon Toomer

Presented in a beautiful quarter-bound hardback format and aimed at a general audience, this engaging book presents a selection of remarkable trees in the care of the National Trust. Throughout human history, trees have occupied a role that is central to our existence ¿ providing timber to build our homes, fuel to heat them, fruit to sustain us, shelter from a downpour and shade on a sunny day. Vital to our wellbeing, they impress us with their size, enchant us with their ever-changing colours and have provided inspiration for artists down the centuries. This celebration of trees at National Trust places presents a carefully chosen selection of 50 fascinating examples. Alongside `named¿ witnesses to history, such as the Tolpuddle Martyrs¿ Sycamore and Sir Isaac Newton¿s Apple Tree at Woolsthorpe Manor, are fine examples of their type that deserve to be better known, such as the Douglas Firs at Cragside and the Black Mulberry at Chastleton House. Each featured tree is accompanied by a wealth of glorious images and a short, informative, easy-to-read text. The book opens with an illuminating introduction and concludes with a glossary of terms and a gazetteer of National Trust places where particularly notable trees can be found.