Written by the team behind Puzzlify. Puzzlify is our product, so weigh what follows with that in mind. We've tried to make this useful even if you never use it. We're not affiliated with any parish council, parochial church council, diocese, church, churches trust, tree charity, tree register, conservation volunteers group, local history society, civic society, heritage trust, heritage body, heritage funder, sponsor, school or community organisation.
It's a damp Friday morning at the end of October, and the churchyard smells of wet leaves. By the path, a little way from the lychgate, stands a yew so old that its trunk has split into several great fluted columns around a hollow you could stand inside. Its bark is a soft reddish brown, glowing after the rain, and its branches sweep low over the gravestones. A retired forester called Gwen is holding one end of a long tape measure; a volunteer called Sam walks it around the trunk at the height on the record sheet, careful not to tread on the roots. A boy waiting for his mum at the gate calls out, "How old is it?" Gwen laughs. "Older than the church, possibly. But nobody can count its rings, because the middle has gone. So we measure it, and we look after it, and we try not to make silly guesses."
If you want to say thank you to people like Gwen and Sam, this is a guide to doing it well, with or without a puzzle.
Who we mean
Yews are among the oldest living things in many parishes, especially in England and Wales, and churchyards are where a lot of the oldest ones survive. Looking after one, and the churchyard around it, involves more people than you'd think:
- volunteers who keep the ground around the yew clear, without compacting the roots or piling soil on them
- people who measure girth and record the tree's shape, condition and any new growth
- recorders who photograph it and send details to local and national tree records
- researchers who dig through parish records, old maps and postcards for mentions of the tree
- churchyard and wildlife volunteers who manage the grass, wildflowers and nesting birds around it
- churchwardens and parish councillors who arrange tree surgeons, permissions and insurance
- fundraisers who pay for an arborist's survey or for supports under a heavy limb
- guides and teachers who bring visitors and schoolchildren to see it
- the founders of the friends group or churchyard project that started it all
Why a thank-you matters here
An old yew changes slowly. Most of the work of looking after it is invisible: the bramble cleared before it shades the trunk, the measurement taken every few years, the careful letter to the council when someone wanted to tidy it up. Volunteers rarely hear that it mattered, that a family who scattered across the world still remembers the tree by the gate, or that a child sheltered under it in the rain on the way home from school. A few honest sentences can mean a lot to people whose work is measured in decades.
A little honest background
It's worth being careful in a note, because yew people tend to be careful too.
Yews are notoriously hard to date. Old trees usually go hollow, so there are no complete rings to count, and growth can speed up and slow down over centuries. Girth gives a rough guide, but estimates for the same tree can differ by hundreds of years. Claims that a particular churchyard yew is thousands of years old turn up often; some are well supported, many aren't. If you're not sure, say so. "Our yew may be older than the church" is honest; "our yew is 3,000 years old" usually isn't something anyone can prove.
Why so many yews grow in churchyards is also debated. Explanations include shelter, symbolism of long life, the idea that some trees mark older sacred sites, and simple tradition. A good guide will tell you that nobody knows for certain, and a good note doesn't need to settle it.
Yew foliage, seeds and bark are poisonous to people and to many animals, so if you're bringing children, keep them from putting needles or berries in their mouths.
What makes a good photo
- the whole tree with the church tower behind it, taken from across the churchyard
- the trunk close up, showing the fluted columns, the hollow and the red bark after rain
- the tape measure around the trunk, held by volunteers who have agreed to be in the picture
- the branches arching over the lychgate or the path
- an old postcard of the churchyard beside the same view today
Getting the JPG right
Use a JPG, sharp and well lit. Yews are dark trees, so a bright, overcast day gives you even light without harsh shadows; wet bark after rain shows its colour beautifully. Stay on the path, don't climb into the tree or stand on graves, walls or memorials for a better angle, and keep off the root area as much as you can. Ask before photographing in a churchyard, especially if anyone is visiting a grave, and check whether the image will be used anywhere public. Keep children, other visitors, gravestone names and people's details out of the frame unless they've agreed.
Privacy and an optional PIN
Puzzlify puzzles are private links. You can add an optional PIN so only the person you send it to can open it. Photos aren't used to train AI and aren't shared with third parties.
Say it's from you
Put your name, or your family's, class's or group's, in the note at the end so they know who sent it. A puzzle that ends with "from Year 5, who now know you can't count the rings" is a thank-you, not a mystery.
Piece counts
| Pieces | Photo idea | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | a child's drawing of the yew | a quick solve, or a child's thank-you |
| 48 | the hollow trunk close up | one clear subject, a relaxed solve |
| 80 | the tape measure around the trunk | a strong subject with crisp detail |
| 130 | the branches arching over the lychgate | a detailed image for a keen puzzler |
| 252 | the whole churchyard with the yew and the tower in autumn | a long, slow solve for a long-serving volunteer |
| 48 or 80 | an old postcard beside the same view today | a warm thank-you for the friends group and the founders |
A yew photo can be very dark and very green; save the bigger counts for pictures with lots of contrast and detail, and choose 24 or 48 for children or for a quick smile on a phone.
How to send it
Make the puzzle, write the note, publish the link, and send it by email or message, or print the link as a QR code inside a card. The recipient doesn't need an account or an app; it plays in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer. The note appears when the last piece clicks into place.
Note examples
- "Thank you for looking after the tree that was here before any of us."
- "To Gwen, for every careful measurement and every silly guess you refused to make."
- "Sam, thank you for clearing the brambles so the old yew can breathe."
- "From Year 5: thank you for letting us stand inside the hollow."
- "From the whole village: thank you for keeping our yew by the gate."
- "Mum and Dad got married under that tree. Thank you for looking after it."
What it costs, plainly
The preview is free, so you can see how it looks before deciding anything. Publishing the link costs one credit (€3.99), or less per puzzle with a bundle. It's a digital puzzle, not a printed or cardboard one, so nothing arrives in the post. If a card and a few sentences feel like enough, they are.
Ideas that are not a puzzle
- a handwritten card, perhaps with a child's drawing of the yew
- a short message to the church or parish magazine naming the volunteers, so it reaches them
- a donation towards an arborist's survey or churchyard work in their name
- an offer of your own time on the next churchyard work morning
- a print of the yew on a misty morning, framed for them
If a photo puzzle feels right as well, choose the whole tree, the hollow trunk, the tape measure or an old postcard, take it with permission and from the path, keep children and people's details out of the frame, pick a piece count that suits them, and write the note in your own words. You can make a free preview here and decide later whether to send it.
Whatever you send, the most important part is the sentence that sounds like you, written to the person who walked a tape measure round a hollow trunk on a wet October morning, so a boy at the gate could learn that some things are too old to count, and still worth looking after.
Written by the small team behind Puzzlify (info@puzzlify.app). Not legal, historical, religious, arboricultural, tree safety, conservation, insurance, health and safety, safeguarding, copyright, photography permission or employment advice. Check your own group's, church's and council's guidance on gifts, photos, the tree, children and people's details.