The Mystery of the Yew (online talk)

In his recent book ‘The Missing Musk’, Bob Gilbert investigates mysteries of the natural world from the plant that lost its fragrance to the enigmatic identity of the lichen. In this talk he focuses in particular on the strange case of the yew. Why is it that 73% of all the UK’s large and ancient yews are to be found in churchyards?

In this talk, Gilbert investigates explanations for this occurrence from the historical to the mystical and shares findings from his visits to many ancient yews. Gilbert’s talk offers an overview of the fascinating botany, social history, folklore and literature of this iconic tree.

This is an online talk. The zoom link will be emailed out closer to the time. 

About Bob Gilbert

Bob Gilbert’s varied career has included stand-up comedian, community worker, Head of a residential field studies centre and Director of Sustainability at a London local authority. He has also travelled widely including walking glaciers in Kashmir and a solo journey by mule through the Sudan. He has been a long-standing campaigner for inner city conservation, for the protection and improvement of urban open spaces and is a patron of ‘The Garden Classroom’, a charity that promotes environmental education in London.

Bob’s books include ‘The Kings Cross Cut’, ‘The Green London Way’, (1991 and 2012) ‘Ghost Trees’ (2018) and ‘The Missing Musk’ (2023, paperback due March 2024). He has written extensively for newspapers and magazines and his column on urban wildlife ran continuously in a north London paper for over 20 years. His work on TV and radio includes ‘‘The Sussuration of Trees’ and ‘The Passion in Plants’, both for BBC Radio 4.