A DRY-stone 'treefold' has been created to shelter a new sapling at Little Asby Common.
Master waller Andy Mason, of Kirkby Lonsdale, and stone carver and lithographer Pip Hall, of Cowgill, have helped to create the structure using traditional techniques, wiht a line of poetry carved into the locally-found stone.
The spot was once home to the solitary Dowly Tree, now a "bare bird-pecked stump" among the common's limestone outcrops - 'dowly' being Westmorland dialect for sad lonely and melancholy.
Landscape charity Friends of the Lake District, owner of the common, plans to replace the tree by planting a sapling within the new 'treefold'. The idea is part of the Long View project, created to highlight seven trees in seven extraordinary locations across Cumbria, by Rob and Harriet Fraser, photographer and writer.
Another fold has been created at Grizedale, with a third to follow at Wasdale.
Jan Darrall, policy officer at Friends of the Lake District, said: "We’re delighted with the treefold on our property at Little Asby and the opportunity to restore the Dowly Tree, a significant feature in the landscape and an important part of local history.”
Little Asby Common is open-access land about five miles east of Orton. If you would like to visit, directions can be found at www.friendsofthelakedistrict.org.uk/little-asby-common
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