On the weekend of 19th Oct 2007 a large Beech tree on the corner of Brook Hill, Station Road and Kirklands Road was felled. It has been known for several years that the tree would need to come down - it is infected with Meripilus giganteus fungus (see below) and is rotting from the inside. The tree was therefore becoming weaker and would eventually break with potentially fatal results. The investigations were carried out by JCA Ltd. who, once the decision had been made that it was time for the tree to come down, contracted G P Gill Ltd  to remove the tree safely.

There was no immediate danger of the tree falling so G P Gill Ltd scheduled the work for the next weekend to minimise traffic disruption.

David Hudson, who was the climber for the day, has been climbing since he left school at the age of 16. All of his initial training was done with G P Gill Ltd. 

You can see some more photos of the tree felling in the photo gallery here.

Meripilus giganteus fungus: Information about this can be found on the Royal Horticultural Society website here or on Arboricultural Information Exchange website here. If you want to view the AEI site properly you will need to follow this link. You can then find the page originally linked to by selecting Giant Polypore from the full index.

The following pages in this article are taken from the survey and other documents kindly provided by JCA Ltd. Though the wording has been changed slightly due to there being no plan or other graphics the facts are as presented in those documents.