Elm Tree

Perhaps the greatest glory of Brighton remains its elm trees - saved by the foresight of the town's arboriculturalists as disease destroyed elms throughout the rest of the country.

This one, a Wheatley Elm at the Seven Dials junction in the centre of town, was briefly the centre of a political storm earlier in the year when the council threatened to cut it down to facilitate a traffic scheme. Following protests - involving two local campaigners camping in the tree for several days - it was saved. It's a magnificent tree, now in its late autumn colour, and deserves to be a symbol of the city.