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Trees growing in Royal Mills in Ancoats

In the 1980s the mills closed and the buildings were left to the mercy of the elements. Over time the roof collapsed exposing materials left behind by the cotton industry.

Mary says “The wood and the slate from the roof probably made a tilth (soil) that had covered the old sewing tables, the rooms, the paper patterns. And in that tilth, in that soil, seeds had germinated”.��

Add to that a good dousing of Manchester rain and high above the Rochdale Canal an eco-system formed providing the perfect growing conditions for the many seeds dropped by birds feeding on the banks of the local waterway.

Just over two years ago as the developers moved in, Mary was allowed access to the mill where she discovered nature’s own roof garden.

Mary selected eighteen of the strongest saplings and transferred them to her garden in Middleon near Wirksworth in Derbyshire. “The tallest must be six or seven feet tall”, says Mary. “They're mainly Willows, Rowans but there’s a Birch tree and an Elder”.

Mary with some of the trees she saved.

But now the trees need transplanting again and Mary is keen for them to be returned to their homeland, as Mary explains. “Because they are getting too big for my garden I'm going to have to find somewhere to put them and I would very much like them to go back to their origins in Ancoats in Manchester”.

If you'd like to adopt one of the Ancoats trees, email richard.fair@bbc.co.uk with details of where you'd like to plant the tree. We'll pass this on to Mary who will decide where best to relocate the trees during the winter months.

Hear the full story of the Ancoats trees on ��ѿ��ý Radio Manchester’s Springwatch coverage on Saturday June 9th from 1pm.