Oak Tree on Tree Appreciation Tuesday

 At this time of the year, when hedges have just been trimmed, it is possible to see for much further.  Seeing over the tops of the hedges or through hedges reveal things that for maybe just a few minutes as I walk catch my eye and make make me stand and appreciate their beauty.  Here in the middle of a series of fields stands a magnificent oak tree. It is not far from Wells, Somerset.

Because I stopped to admire the tree, to my delight I also found this large steel cattle drinking trough which I had seen several years ago, most probably one winter, but I had failed to find again, most when I was looking for it again, the hedge was so thick and covered with greenery, it was therefore out of view from the road side.

The iron and strong riveting just don't seem to be appropriate for a cattle trough, and I wonder whether it had an industrial past and once the industry had closed, the containers were repurposed locally?  Something I shall be looking into, or finding the person who can tell me.

I contacted our local Museum and I had the following reply: 

'I have been in contact with the museum’s curator David Walker about the cattle trough. He has been away the past few weeks, but he is now back, and he is confident the trough in your photo is a repurposed air receiver from a quarry. They were designed to hold air at low pressure to drive drills for making shot holes for explosives, he says, and became redundant when diesel powered compressors became available. There are more in the Doulting area that came from the nearby quarry also.'