ANCIENT TREE QUEST

Yesterday marked the start of a new joint project with Rhys. We are going in search of ancient trees.Our idea is for Rhys to paint them and me to write about the experience.
       We went looking for the True Service Tree (Sorbus Domestica). considered by some to be over 400 years old. According to our guide book-Heritage Trees Wales by Archie Miles, this rare species is to be found on the lime stone cliffs at Aberthaw, a few miles west of Cardiff Airport.
      We hadn't been to Aberthaw for years. To get to it you pass through the pretty village of Gileston. We were not prepared for the cubist acropolis that towers over the village,and that is the West Aberthaw Power Station, providing electricity to homes in South Wales. How could  a rare species of tree survive here?
        The little car park was nearly full of dog walkers coming and going. It was a beautful sunny day,the first for a while, the sun playing on the Bristol Channel with the Somerset hills in view. We set off on the concreted footpath that circuits the Power Station on the left with the sea wall on the right. The scale of the Power Station is immense.The fence has 'Keep Out' notices and a patrol car with flashing lights stalking the fence.
      'Trees!' Rhys said, as I tried to pretend I wasn't taking photos.
      'You mean logs,' I muttered,snapping vigorously. I remembered hearing that the Forestry Commission was providing trees for burning in power stations.  Then I spied chugging slowly over the horizon coal wagons,with the EWS logo. We often ponder where they are heading when we are woken up in the early hours as they pass the bottom of our garden, from several miles up the valley.
       After several poo alerts and a pulverished ash tip we reached the headland to discover another monument behind the fence. It looks like huge wire wings, but is an environmental/alternative energy centre,with solar panels on the roof of the building below. On we walked until we reached the Aberthaw Bio-Diversity area; a lake with swans and young trees,and on the edge what looked like the ruins of a building that may have burnt lime. We read the notice,'Respect,Protect,Enjoy!'
and on the plaque among the other species you could find there, a washed out picture of our quest.
       'Brill!' Not far now,'we said.
      We scoured the cliffs as we descended onto the salt marsh with mallards chuckling and families making fires on the the rubbish strewn beach.
       'That could be it!' Rhys shouted, several times, pointing upwards as we tripped our way through the plastic debris, avoiding danger signs of people falling off cliffs. Above us was Fontygary Caravan Park. Last winter a few caravans hadn't heeded the sign and fallen over the edge as the cliff crumbled.
         'It says in the book that the leaves are like the Rowen or Ash with distinctive fruits,like little clusters of small ruddy pears.'
         'Pity, there are no leaves on the trees then, let alone fruit.'
         'They may have been introduced by the Romans...I'm sure it's that one, up there in the ivy.'
         'It's impossible to tell.  Everything's covered in ivy.'
         'Or is that one?'
         'Or that one?
         'I'm sure it's that one.'
         'Are you hungry?'
         'You are!'
         'Barry Island, Fish and Chips?
         'Come on. We'll come back in the early autumn,when it should be easier
          to identify the True Service Tree.'
         'Hmm.'