Whilst a defiant lone hawthorn guarding the Scottish coastline is the winner of ‘Tree of The Year 2021’ - Saundersfoot and Pembrokeshire suppporters along with visitors and expatriots alike are absolutely delighted that their beloved iconic tree came runner-up to this prestigious and national competition!

A spokesperson for the Woodland Trust said: “The hawthorn took 38 per cent of the vote, finishing above the Monterey cypress tree planted on the beach in Saundersfoot, that was saved from felling this year after a passionate public campaign.”

In the week long competition to find the Woodland Trust’s UK Tree of The Year 2021 volunteers from the Save Saundersfoot’s Lonely Tree Group were active on social media to spread the word about the competition and to drum up support.

Their tenacity paid off when they started to attract the attention of a number of Welsh celebrities who commented and retweeted their posts.

Hollywood A lister and Welsh actor Michael Sheen posted on social media: “I would like to pitch a show where I visit each of one of these beautiful trees and have a little nap at the foot of them (I vote for The Lonely Tree)”.

On Twitter the call to vote for Saundersfoot's 'Lonely Tree was not only re-tweeted by Michael Sheen but also Cerys Matthews, Wynne Evans, newscasters Alastair Stewart, Jamie Owen and Lucy Owen.

Wildlife expert and presenter Iolo Williams also helped spread the word and has shared posts about this iconic tree in the past.

It was Kevin Stanley a regular Saundersfoot visitor from Ruskington in Lincolnshire who managed to attract the attention of Michael Sheen and it was Kevin who by nominating the iconic tree for the Woodland Trust's #TreeOFTheWeek helped the Lonely Tree gain that accolade back in August.

“Nicky and I managed a campaign across social media to promote the tree and were delighted to get such strong support from Welsh celebrities despite a short timeframe and Michael really made an impact for us with a retweet to his loyal fans in which he jokingly suggested a TV series in which he visits all of the nominated trees!” said Kevin.

“If Michael makes this a reality I hope to join him on his journey! His retweet and comment in support of Saundersfoot's Lonely Tree post got us a staggering 100,000 views and likely 698 click votes).

Kevin continued: “I was delighted Saundersfoot’s Lonely Tree was voted into second place and I'm so pleased for the ‘Lonely Tree’ Group, Nicky, Clr. Williams and the ‘Lonely Tree Preservation Society’ to get this recognition that they and the beautiful tree so rightly deserve.

“Every tree on the shortlist would have been a worthy winner. Anyone voting has demonstrated their love for trees and celebrated them, which is even more important than which individual tree won.”

Clr. Martyn Williams BEM and Chair of Saundersfoot's 'Lonely Tree' Preservation Society said: “This is a wonderful accolade and coming second, well that's like a silver in the Olympics for us but I’d like to congratulate the community of Dalbeattie in Dumfries amd Galloway as their lone hawthorn is a worthy winner.

“This strengthens our cause for preserving our beloved tree and I’d like to say thank you to all who voted for our wonder of nature and all who helped canvas for those votes on social media and elsewhere.

“We are particularly indebted to Saundersfoot visitor Kevin Stanley who first nominated our iconic tree and his herculean efforts in the past week promoting our tree on social media.”

Nicky Mallen founder of the Save Saundersfoot's Lonely Tree Group added: “We were up against some stiff competition from beautiful trees throughout the UK so we’re blessed to make it to the final 10, let alone come second!

“Hey we’ll take that, we are more than pleased with this fabulous news.”