Really lovely. Where do you find the yew?
Dave
I'm in the UK.
It's a roadside Yew, there is a patch/row of 5 or 6 (on public/council land) near where I live. There is a 12th century church nearby with some HUGE Yews all around (Not the scruffy little trimmed things you see, these are more like Redwoods!).
The local kids had made dens underneath the roadside ones
and I found one big branch that wouldn't be missed
, there are another couple of potential limbs.
The churchyard ones are too big, but if any come down in a storm I'll be over there like a shot.
People say there is no decent English Yew, but I bet if they looked at every Yew tree within a one mile radius of where they lived they would find a stave or two. Whenever I'm out and about I make a mental note of any Yew I see...There are a few in people's gardens which I've spotted, so one day I'll knock on their door, show them a longbow and ask if I can take a piece (or maybe I'll just creep around at night
).
I don't run around cutting down stuff willy nilly, but I keep and eye on what is there.
Sometime over this winter I intend to take the 'sister' stave to the one I took about 30years ago when I made my 75 pound first Yew bow, it should have thickened up a tad by now!
Del