A gravity-defying wych elm in Northern Ireland has been crowned the Woodland Trust’s UK Tree of the Year 2026, and it’s got us thinking about some of the weird and wonderful trees we have here in the Bradford District.
The aptly named Bendy Tree, which stands on the seafront promenade at Newcastle in County Down, won an impressive 31% of the public vote, with more than 20,000 votes cast in this year’s competition.
Growing almost horizontally, the tree has been shaped by more than a century of harsh coastal conditions. The native wych elm has also survived Dutch elm disease and is the last remaining tree from a row of wych elms planted along the original promenade, likely around the mid-19th century. Many of the other trees were felled when the promenade was redeveloped in the 1980s.
Trees that survived against the odds
The Woodland Trust’s 2026 competition celebrated some of the UK’s most resilient trees under the theme‘Against the odds’.
Ten trees made the final shortlist, each with its own remarkable story:
- Bendy Tree, Newcastle, County Down, Northern Ireland
- Crowhurst Yew, Crowhurst, Surrey
- Bomber Oak, near Uppingham, Rutland
- Preston Twin, Brighton, Sussex
- Culmstock Yew, Culmstock, Devon
- Bollihope Burn Birch, near Stanhope, County Durham
- Wales Coast Path Oak, Eglwys Fach, Ceredigion
- Earlstoun Lightning Oak, Dalry, Dumfries and Galloway
- Balloch Castle Ash, Loch Lomond, West Dunbartonshire
- Donnington Castle Oak, Newbury, Berkshire.
The stories behind them are certainly unusual. The Bomber Oak, for example, is said to have been struck by a Lancaster Bomber in 1945, while the ancient Crowhurst Yew survived cannonball fire and was later hollowed out to create a parish meeting room. The Culmstock Church Tower Yew has been growing at the top of a church tower for around 200 years.
Meanwhile, the veteran Balloch Castle Ash is believed to have survived a lightning strike, hurricane, multiple storms and ash dieback.
What about Bradford’s weird and wonderful trees?
Reading about this year’s finalists made us wonder what extraordinary trees are growing closer to home.
Across the Bradford District, there will be trees with their own stories to tell and we’d love to hear about them.
Do you know a weird or wonderful tree in the Bradford District?
It might be:
- unusually shaped
- particularly old
- connected with local history
- a survivor of storms, disease or development
- an important local landmark
- or simply a tree that means something special to your community.
Send us your nomination, tell us where the tree is and what makes it special. If you have a photograph, we’d love to see that too.
We’d love to discover and celebrate some of the fascinating trees growing across our district.
Send your nominations to [email protected].
Find out more
You can read more about the Bendy Tree and discover all ten finalists on the Woodland Trust Tree of the Year 2026 website.
You can also help record notable trees nationally through the Woodland Trust’s https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/things-to-do/ancient-tree-inventory/. The Woodland Trust says thousands of special trees are still waiting to be recorded.