Willows are among the area’s stand out trees
Weeping willows will bloom until midsummer, scattering catkins, curled and furry and twinkling with pollen.
SOWERBY BRIDGE is blessed by illustrious weeping willows, and the wider Calder Valley hosts many more of these uniquely beautiful, oriental trees.
Unmistakeable, their pendulous branchlets sleeved in spirals of arrowy green leaves, weeping willows –
Salix babylonica – originate in China, but have adorned British parks, watersides and streets for many years.
Entering Sowerby Bridge at Bolton Brow, you are greeted by a tall, sprawling willow, spilling its fountain of foliage over a roadside garden.
Further down, in the town, another stands bright against the white walls of the Royal Lofts apartments, an umbrella of lime green transforming a drab car park, and adding a touch of glamour to an otherwise largely leafless corner.
Further afield, at Copley, a willow waves in the wind on a neat suburban street.
Along the towpath at Salterhebble, one hangs by the bridge, bluetits weaving in and out of its leaves in giddy flits of springtime innocence.
My favourite willow is at Mytholmroyd, cloaking the Rochdale Canal in splendid springtime colour.
On warm evenings I love to see its mirror image shining on the water, in sunlit pools of lush sea-green.
In late winter, willows are signs of life, presenting hopeful lashings of green against backdrops of drizzle,
but are often checked in their naivety by late snows.
Only weeks ago, I watched March snows settle on the branches of a weeping willow, softly caked like dusted green
jellies. That particular tree is the one I always see en-route to the station, on a shady lane along the Calder’s banks, at the edge of an industrial estate.
In early spring, this splash of growth contrasts with its less leafy neighbours, a solitary frazzle of refreshing green, leaves draped over the river like the tassels of a fancy dress.
Now, in April, it’s leaves are gradually unfurling in green gleams of Eastern elegance, long green tongues licking the river in delectable reflections of dreamy deliquescence.
Weeping willows will bloom until midsummer, scattering catkins, curled and furry and twinkling with pollen, like snazzy caterpillars dabbed with golden syrup.
With their cascading growth habits providing cover for insects, and heavily nectarous flowers attracting butterflies, bees, moths and many more beneficial insects, willows are among the area’s stand out trees, and are at their shiny and resplendent best in spring, brightening roadsides, and flourishing by the river, like impressionist paintings, delicate reflections rippling on the water.