The Bicycle Tree of Brig o’ Turk.

Ryk Brown had asked for some photos of this. So here they are.

The tree is thought to have self-seeded approximately 1860–1900 on or near the site of a blacksmith’s scrap heap. After the death of the blacksmith in 1923, the smithy closed down and the land was abandoned, allowing the tree to grow unhindered. Dozens of metal items from the scrap heap, or which had been hung on the tree, have become encapsulated partially or wholly within its bark. This is thought to have included a horse’s bridle, and a ship’s anchor and chain. Most notably the frame and handlebars of an early 20th-century bicycle can be seen protruding from the bark. The tree is often described as having “eaten” the metal objects or else having the metal “growing out of it”.

Several stories have attached themselves to the tree, including that the bicycle was left by a villager conscripted to fight in the First World War. The villager is said variously to have died in combat or else to have been away so long that the bicycle was absorbed by the tree before he returned. Studies of the tree have shown that it does not appear to have suffered any adverse effect from the metal it has encapsulated, being in fair condition with a life expectancy of 40 to 100 years.

Wikipedia