Routh Address 1 Decmeber 2025
From Good Timber, by Douglas Malloch
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
Good timber does not grow with ease,
The stronger wind, the stronger trees,
The further sky, the greater length,
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and us good timbers grow.
For various reasons this morning, I want to talk about plants and thank you to Gina for sharing part of the poem Good Timber. As we know, timber—or wood—comes from trees, and the poem talks about what makes the tallest, strongest trees, which in turn produce the best timber.
But before I get on to the Plant Kingdom, as I was writing this at home, I came across an old greetings card that reminded me of a pupil I taught many years ago elsewhere.
Before she started at the school, for various reasons I went to visit her and her mother in their small flat on an estate in East London. It wasn’t a particularly smart area, and the flat was small, but it was home for the two of them.
The pupil in question was very shy. She was clever, worked hard, and was hardly ever seen without a book, but in class, if she was asked a question in front of others, she found it hard to speak aloud—even though her written work was excellent. As she went about her days in school, she appeared nervous and timid and was often out on the edge of things. She did, however, enjoy singing and was encouraged to join the choir.
After a couple of years, the music teacher told me he was going to persuade her—by now about 14—to sing a solo in an end-of-term concert. To be honest, I thought she would refuse—or back out at the last minute—but he was convinced she could sing on her own, accompanied by someone on the piano
The evening of the concert came. The hall was packed, and I was standing at the back. The girl’s mother was there—also at the back of the hall—and some of her neighbours from their estate were sitting with her. Bands, orchestras, and choirs performed confidently, and then the moment in the programme came for the solo.
The pupil walked out in front of the stage and stood next to the piano, pale, probably shaking, looking straight ahead and definitely not at her Mum. The piano started playing, and the moment came for her to sing, and she did—so quietly at first that you could barely hear. The audience also fell absolutely silent, and you could sense everyone willing her to keep going, to be brave and to sing out…and gradually she did. She grew louder, more confident, and happier as the song progressed, and by the end she was singing beautifully and smiling and looking directly at the audience…and there was a huge round of applause.
Most teachers will have moments like that which they remember with huge pride and affection. For this girl, it was a turning point when had done so much more than she would have believed she could. She kept singing – with others and sometimes on her own – she became more comfortable around school, and her confidence in general grew. I had been wrong to think she wouldn’t perform on her own—her music teacher had been right to believe in her and to give her the push she needed. The card I came across yesterday was sent to me by the girl’s mother when she graduated from a university in the North East, where she had studied music.
How can there possibly be any connection with that story and trees? As Gina’s reading told us, trees that grow in harsher conditions, perhaps standing up to strong winds and poor soil develop stronger roots, thicker trunks, and flexible branches. Competition for sunlight and nutrients stimulates stronger, healthier growth, and slower growth produces denser, studier wood. Of course the conditions also have to be bearable – particularly when the tree is young because if they are too harsh the tree will stop growing altogether.
Hopefully the parallel is clear. In School and in life, we want to feel comfortable and supported – conditions in which we can feel at home and be ourselves. However, if it is all too easy, too gentle and safe we may never fulfil our true potential. Occasionally we need be pushed harder, to be given the odd challenge and perhaps encouraged to do the odd thing that we think is beyond us. That is how we develop strength, resilience, and the ability to thrive.
Good timber does not grow with ease,
The stronger wind, the stronger trees,
The further sky, the greater length,
The more the storm, the more the strength.
So, if we feel we are being pushed out of our comfort zone now and again—making life more challenging—remember that it may well make us stronger, and we may discover that we can achieve far more than we imagined.
And if you want to learn about plants of a very different kind, or simply enjoy a great evening of entertainment, do go to see Little Shop of Horrors. A huge amount of work has gone into the production, and tickets are going fast.