I was a little sorry to recently see the old tree in the middle of the David Livingstone Playing Grounds had been felled. This must have happened in March or April 2022 and its willow-like appearance could be seen in many photographs over the decades.

However, the tree was isolated, alone in the middle of the grounds, looked quite storm damaged and kind of out of place. It never seemed to have leaves, giving it a rather depressing, almost dead appearance which did bring the whole look of the place down.

When I took this photo a couple of weeks ago, I took some time afterwards to count the rings on the tree and determined it was 155 years old, meaning it was planted in the 1860’s. This would have been in the grounds of the works manager’s house in that era.

Looking to the future, the park paths have recently been upgraded and planting is once again underway to beautify the grounds. Thankfully, there are many large trees dotted around the grounds, some just as old as this and the whole scene is still very green and beautiful.