Legendary ‘bicycle tree’ given special protection

ONE OF Scotland’s greatest arboricultural curiosities, the famous “bicycle tree” at Brig O’Turk in the Trossachs, has been awarded special status to protect it from the chop.

According to legend, a soldier from the village left the bicycle hanging in a branch of the sycamore before leaving for the trenches of the First World War.

It is said he never returned, and a century later the bicycle’s handle bars and forks are among several pieces of metal including a ship’s anchor, a chain and a bridle bit that can be seen partly enveloped in its trunk.

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park’s planning authority awarded a provisional tree preservation order (TPO) for the Bicycle Tree in December.

Its planning committee has now agreed to confirm the order for the landmark, which has become a tourist attraction and even inspired the local primary school’s logo.

The tree, which dates back to around 1870, stands in the yard of a former smithy and is renowned for its unusual features, most prominently the handle bars and forks of the bicycle which give the tree its popular name.

The tree has become a landmark tourist attraction, and villagers and conservationists have fought for several years for it to be protected by law.

The TPO will protect the tree, which stands in an area known as Dorothy’s Field, in the event of any future change in land use in the surrounding area.

A National Park spokesman said: “The mature sycamore has significant cultural and historic heritage which is recognised locally, regionally and nationally.”

Planners acknowledged that the current owner valued the “folklore” surrounding the tree, but added: “There is no guarantee a subsequent owner, or any future owners, will have sufficient respect for the significance of the tree.”