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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

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The Essay Podcast

The Essay

Discussion & Talk

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond, themed across a week - insight, opinion and intellectual surprise.

The Essay: The Meaning of Trees: Series 2

The Essay: The Meaning of Trees: Series 2: Part 2: The Meaning of Trees: Hawthorn

Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

The Meaning of Trees

Part 2 Part 2: The Meaning of Trees: Hawthorn

The Meaning of Trees: Hawthorn

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Professor Fiona Stafford on hawthorn trees, which have divided Britain for centuries.

Professor Fiona Stafford on hawthorn trees, which have shaped Britain for centuries, being the tree of rural hedges. They have divided communities too, but are they really guilty?

Essay Two: Hawthorn

Fiona Stafford, Professor of Literature at Somerville College Oxford, explores the symbolism, importance, topicality and surprises of five trees common in the UK. In this second series, she explores our ambiguous relationship with trees.

The hawthorn is such a common sight in the British countryside that people hardly notice its presence - and yet this hardy tree, when cut and laid, is in many ways responsible for our very idea of the British countryside because of its usefulness for hedging. When much of Britain was enclosed in the eighteenth century, the new fields were marked by hawthorn tree hedges, shaping the landscape into the familiar patchwork of fields. In spring, the hawthorn bursts into beautiful 'May' blossom, almost as if the hedge has been covered in creamy custard - a phenomenon which has inspired a massive range of painters and paintings. One of the most famous thorn trees is at Glastonbury, and according to local legend the original grew when Joseph of Arimathea arrived in Britain, after the crucifixion, and his wooden staff was turned by a miracle into a living thorn that blossoms on Christmas day. Hawthorn contains chemicals which are sedative, diuretic and anti-spasmodic - so it is an excellent natural regulator of arterial blood pressure, and is also proffered by herbalists as a treatment for heart diseases and as a heart stimulant. Despite this, hawthorn throughout history has been seen as unlucky, with tales of woe being brought upon those who brought the blossoms into the house or displayed them. Add all this to it being frequently misrepresented as the crucifixion crown of thorns and one can see why this tree is such a divisive force.

The Essay: The Meaning of Trees

Series 2

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Fiona Stafford explores the symbolism, importance, topicality and surprises of trees

Professor Fiona Stafford of Oxford University explores the symbolism, importance, topicality and surprises about different trees, as well as our ambiguous relationship with them.

Professor Fiona Stafford of Oxford University continues to explore the symbolism, importance, topicality and surprises about different trees, as well as our ambiguous relationship with them.

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The Meaning of Trees

Series 2

Part 2: The Meaning of Trees: Hawthorn

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