Wokingham
A large oak tree split in two narrowly avoiding crushing a delivery driver who passed seconds before.
There was a second lucky escape.
The ancient tree hit the house opposite in Hogmoor Lane, Hurst, but brought down just the front guttering.
James Girdler from nearby in Poplar Lane said: “A driver who was making a delivery to next door of us heard the bang of the falling section seconds after driving past the tree.
“It was such a nice oak, a good 300 years old I would think.”
Chris Bowman, who lives in a house opposite the tree, said: “My wife heard the crack. It just brushed the house taking off the guttering at the front and there’s some damage to the hedge.
“Half the tree has gone. The bough came very near, I always worried about it. Wokingham Borough Council’s highways people came very promptly to clear the road.”
The oak is much loved by many walkers, including dog owners, who use the lane. Many have said how sad they are about the tree splitting apart on Sunday, July 16.
A spokesperson for Haines Hill Estate, which owns the tree, said: “It’s a lovely old oak tree, at least 150 years old.
“Suddenly, in the winds, half of it fell down. Fortunately, it did very little damage. Of course, it could have been much worse – with the driver [who had just passed by].
“I’ve inspected the tree and I’ve got someone to clear up [the fallen branches and other wood] this week. Someone will also sort out the guttering.
“The big issue is what happens to the tree. It’s going to be assessed. We treat this very carefully because of the safety issue. It’s fairly likely we will have to take down the rest of the tree.”
He said the estate had received quite a lot of negative comments when they took down trees on one side of the B3018 in the autumn of last year.
“The purpose of that was safety. Trees had fallen across the road and one had landed on a car. We have gone to huge expense to take trees back from the road for safety reasons.
“We can’t take down every roadside tree but where we see problems we deal with them. We’re planting a whole new wood, about 12 acres, with up to 10,000 new trees.”
