Hmm May 10 - On Trees, Treecreepers and Growth

Tree Creeper - with its white chest and breast and its subtly patterned back that seems to blend in perfectly with the bark of almost any tree. Thanks to Mdf for this image.

Last Friday lunchtime I was sitting quietly on a bench in a secluded part of Birmingham’s popular Botanical Gardens. It was quite chilly for the last day of April but the gardens themselves looked superb – a real haven from the cut and thrust of city life.

All of a sudden (and very surprisingly) my eyes caught the movement of a small brown bird landing on a mature sycamore just a few yards away from my seat. It landed on the trunk and proceeded to climb – edging forward like a tiny clockwork mouse looking for food in the cracks and fissures of the ancient bark.

It really was a delight to see a Treecreeper here in the heart of Brum, a bird I haven’t seen for at least 12 months - all neat and dapper with its white chest and breast and its subtly patterned back that seems to blend in perfectly with the bark of almost any tree.

I couldn’t help but think what a magnificent tree I was looking at. And it wasn’t just feeding the treecreeper within its branches I could see squirrels, Blue and Great Tits, a splendid thrush and a couple of rather plump Woodpigeons.

Whilst I watched I was reminded of a story that Lord Puttman (politician, entrepreneur and Oscar-winning producer of Chariots of Fire) told at this year’s IoD Convention at the Royal Albert Hall. It was a story about some young trees he had planted in his garden in Ireland.

When he first planted the trees they were protected from the strong winds by a thick but rather unsightly hedge. The trees prospered and the time came when Lord Puttnam decided the hedge could be partly removed. It looked like a bad move as the trees stopped growing -or so he thought. It took a local man to point out that the trees were still growing, but they were growing downwards forcing -their roots ever deeper to anchor themselves against the wind.

That’s what I believe so many businesses have been doing this last year or so. We’ve been securing ourselves, putting down roots and preparing to grow again whatever life throws at us.

James Holden
Managing Director