The Tibetan tree reminding a family of their roots

2 hours ago

Ethan Gudgeand

Dan Facey,South of England

Yeshi Jampa's family often take walks down to the walnut tree at Aston Eyot

Julie Kleeman Yeshi Jampa and his children smiling whilst standing next to the walnut tree. — Yeshi Jampa's family often take walks down to the walnut tree at Aston Eyot

Every week, Yeshi Jampa takes a stroll down to a nature reserve near his home in Oxford and stops to look at a tree that reminds him of his home, almost 5,000 miles (8,047km) away.

In the courtyard of his ancestral home in rural Tibet stands an enormous 300-year-old walnut tree, the seeds of which he was gifted shortly before emigrating to the UK.

As Jampa laid his roots around Oxford - including opening his own restaurant - so did one of his walnuts, which he had planted at Aston Eyot, near Christ Church Meadow.

More than a decade on, the flourishing teenage walnut tree now provides him and his family a reminder of their roots.

The walnuts had first been a gift to Jampa - who had been living in India - from his family shortly before he emigrated to the UK in 2011.

"We feasted on them, but he kept a few behind and said he had a plan one day to plant them and see if he could grow his own tree," Jampa's wife, Julie Kleeman, said.

The walnuts came from a 300-year-old tree at Jampa's ancestral home in Tibet

Julie Kleeman A large tree rises above a white building in the hills of Tibet. — The walnuts came from a 300-year-old tree at Jampa's ancestral home in Tibet

The walnut was initially planted by the couple in the garden at their home in East Oxford, before neighbours began questioning the exotic foliage.

"Our neighbour expressed some concern that the tree wasn't gonna work in our garden," Kleeman said.

"We lived just up the road from Aston Eyot, and she suggested that we contact the team there to see whether they might be open to us transplanting it down there, and they were."

It serves as a reminder of Jampa's roots, almost 5,000 miles (8,047km) away from Oxford

Julie Kleeman Yeshi Jampa smiling whilst pointing towards the tree. — It serves as a reminder of Jampa's roots, almost 5,000 miles (8,047km) away from Oxford

Kleeman said for "many years" she and her husband would take their children down to where the tree was planted, where it often seemed "the children were growing much faster than the tree".

"There was nothing really to speak of, it didn't seem to be doing very much," she said.

"But then, over the last few years, it's really just grown beyond my imaginations - it's definitely overtaken the children now."

The tree is the result of Jampa's decision to plant a walnut when he first arrived in Oxford

Julie Kleeman A walnut on the walnut tree. — The tree is the result of Jampa's decision to plant a walnut when he first arrived in Oxford

The family often take walks down to the tree as a reminder of where Jampa came from, Kleeman said.

"My husband wasn't able to return home to Tibet for many years, so to be able to actually feel like he has a piece of his homeland here in Oxford is amazingly meaningful for him," she said.

"The children often say how wonderful it is, that even when we're gone, to be able to have a place to visit and bring their own children to visit and tell the stories of the walnut tree from Tibet and other stories from Yeshi's childhood."