The 2016 Challenge, day 6: Picking up the Pieces (2)

That something we still had to do was, of course, to pay a visit to the Fortingall yew tree. That's it, in the background. The oldest living thing in Europe - and possibly, indeed, the world. The rootstock is somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 years old, and it's taken a lot of abuse in its time. In the 18th century people used to come and carve off pieces to take away with them; and local children lit bonfires inside it, hollowing it out. In the 19th century, funeral processions used to pass through the middle of it. Despite all this, however, it has managed to survive and thrive. WOW!!!