An oak tree torn down by Storm Darragh’s strong winds has been removed from the grounds of a popular children’s play park.
The old oak tree next to Fleming Avenue playground in North Baddesley – which readers branded as "part of their childhood" – came down at the start of December when high winds hit Hampshire.
Daily Echo Camera Club member Mark Harris followed the incident from the start, posting photos of the tree being ripped down onto wet grass on Facebook.
The tree has been left for the majority of December after falling during Storm Darragh - this is how it looked before surgeons started. (Image: Mark Harris) But on Christmas Eve, the tree was chopped up and disposed of.
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The big oak was axed into smaller sections and fed through a woodchipper to reduce the tree down to dust.
Tree surgeons used a chainsaw, mini digger and tree chipper. (Image: Mark Harris) Mark told the Echo he was sad to see the tree in the state of ‘going, going, gone’ and that it was awful to see it turn to powder in front of him.
He said: “I can remember climbing it, as all good school boys did back then, and also made bows and arrows from its branches.
“I would imagine many would have made memories with the tree because it was quite a prominent feature of the park.”
Only a tree stump and a few large logs remained after the surgeons left the scene.
The stump remained after surgeons had left. (Image: Mark Harris) Chloe Fowler looked to the bright side and suggested that the wood left behind could help wildlife.
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She said: “Hopefully they'll leave the logs there in the trees to decompose allowing bugs, fungi and other critters to thrive.”
The tree had played a major part in many North Baddesley residents’ lives, as Mark said the oak stood in the park as long as he could remember after moving to the village over 50 years ago.
He previously told the Echo: "Many have used the park over the years, from the pre-school, having sports days, to dog walkers walking their pets.
"And in the last few months, I've even heard tawny owls, at night, after I had finished work.
"I have been on the lookout for more possible sightings/haunts to try and take pictures of them. So that's now not going to happen, either."
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