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​On Sunday 15th September 2024 people came together to ‘Notice This Tree’ in our

6th Intervention which took place in Bristol city centre. 

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People walked from various trees at risk - trees that are loved or even ones that have gone, towards what is known as the Bear Pit. The Bearpit is a sunken roundabout with some trees within it, in the centre of Bristol near to the Cube cinema. It is there that we congregated. 

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#Noticethistree sashes had been screen-printed and wrapped around many trees in Bristol before the day of the intervention.  An ash tree at Guinea St., trees at risk from the development at Saint Mary's La Porte, Millennium Parade where five plane trees are at risk, Baltic Wharf caravan site where trees are threatened by housing development, Ashley down oak, The Splendid Oak of Yew tree farm and the veteran oak on French Moor, amongst many. 

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At the Bear Pit around 100 or so people gathered in a ceremony to pay tribute to these and other trees. People told stories of their tree, a roll-call of lost trees was read out, there was a call and response from different parts of the Bear Pit highlighting the trees within the BearPit itself. 

The Red Rebels showed up in all their crimson splendour lending their singular solemnity and dramatic energy to the intervention as they highlighted special trees in and around the Bearpit.

 

The Red Rebels led a procession from the cinema to the Bearpit and then back from the Bearpit to the cinema, where ‘branches of wooden bones’ were carried in honour of lost trees. At the cinema further work was done to the tapestry Mycelium Mundus, and the The Happy Man Tree documentary film was screened. Afterwards groups of people reflected on what they had watched and experienced throughout the whole of the Intervention.

 

 

See below for images of the bone branch installation devised by Gaby Solly. People were invited to write their thoughts about trees on tags and tie them to the branches, then some people read out their messages to the crowd gathered by the huge London Plane tree in the corner of the Bearpit. 

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Media coverage:

Bristol's B24/7 news outlet:

Read Martin Booth's article "Red Rebel Brigade join Notice This Tree event in Bearpit" here

Read Ursula Billington article "Event Pays Homage to Trees Loved and Lost" here

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Bristol Community FM (BCFM)

Listen to Gaby Solly being interviewed about the Notice This Tree intervention on BCFM's brilliant One Love One Planet environmental show, on Tuesday 3 September at 11am here 

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