Dear Friends

Last September, during the night and in the midst of a howling gale, a large section of the old Copper Beech tree fell down with a resounding thud in the garden of the Old Rectory. The tree was undoubtedly in the region of 200 years old, or more, and we took advice from the Conservation Officer of Broadland District Council, Mr Peter Croot the local tree-warden, the Woodland Trust and the Ancient Tree Forum. The advice from all of these good people was unanimous - the rest of the tree must go, as its' proximity to the Lower Common was too close to take any chances.

The sadness of losing such a beautiful tree is off-set by the realisation of how lucky we were to have had it in the first place, and towards the end of this summer, a sapling Copper Beech will be planted in the garden. So if we can all stay around for another 200 years, we'll benefit from the sight once again of the pale pink early May leaves that turn to russet and then to deep maroon, and the beech nuts!

Yours sincerely

John & Jan Hart
Bernard & Chris Mann