The Luckmore/Betchworth Oak - April 2020

One of the early articles on the EEG website was about the oak tree at the junction of Betchworth Ave and Luckmore drive. Below is a sad update to this story.

Luckmore Drive resident David Chopping writes:
No longer will we be able to give directions into Luckmore Drive from Wilderness Road, by saying "turn right just before the old oak tree". Overnight Easter Sunday to Monday, in what was not really a very strong wind, our beloved and well cared for oak tree finally succumbed to its age.

At 2.30 in the early morning residents were awakened by an almighty "thud" as the tree fell over. Fortunately it considerately chose these quiet times to act, there were no cars, cyclists or residents anywhere near. It even fell very neatly back into Luckmore Drive, missing a number of lesser Fir Trees.

Despite the Covid-19 "lock-down" the Borough Council emergency services were on the scene early the Monday morning. It took nearly 3 hours, but they were able to cut an escape route for trapped residents, then they cleared a double path and piled everything up. Residents then cleared up and many a log pile was enhanced.

The reason for the tree's fall was simply one of age. The base, despite looking healthy, was steadily rotting away, and hollow through (albeit a haven for all that creap and crawl).

Now you can read the original article.

These photos were taken by Chris Mason.

Sad end to a familiar landmark

Evidence of the decay