TREE OF WOE

Fans of iconic birch begin to contemplate its looming mortality

- ANDREW FORGRAVE

NOTHING lasts forever not even the best-known tree in Wales.

Perched over pebbles in Llyn Padarn, and framed by Eryri's mountains, the Lonely Tree of Llanberis has survived against the odds to provide an impossibly romantic composition for photographers.

Lying by the lake's edge at Y Glyn, an area known as the "Lagoons", the tree is at the mercy of weather that sweeps across the water and up towards Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon).

Yet, while this month's Storm Darragh levelled forests in Wales, the Lonely Tree stayed upright.

Standing aloof on its own miniature island, it's been wind-harried and wave-lashed and is often left submerged when winter storms raise Llyn Padarn's water levels.

"Tough as old boots, that tree," said one enthusiast online.

Most days, especially at dawn, photographers queue up to catch their own portraits of a solitary birch tree whose struggle for survival is part of its appeal.

Now missing a branch, it's become twisted and gnarled, leaving some first-timers to wonder what all the fuss is about.

"I first visited a couple of years ago," said one visitor, also online. "I was like, what!!! But from the right angle and right weather conditions, it's absolutely stunning."

Having been at Y Glyn for at least 15 years, its custodians estimate the tree has perhaps a decade left before it withers and dies.