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‘It feels like part of the family has gone’ Pensioner’s WW2 tree felled ‘without warning’

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The tree, which was planted in 1945 by Audrey Wright and her mother to commemorate the end of World War II, had grown to an impressive 25 feet. According to ForHousing who manage the property, it was ‘causing structural damage’ to the garden wall and pavement near Audrey’s home.

They claim to have spoken to the 91-year-old a month before beginning the work and again on the day.

But Audrey, who suffers from early-onset dementia and is also partially blind and deaf, was left ‘confused’ by the situation, reports Manchester Evening News.

The tree at Ash Drive in Swinton, Greater Manchester, had been tended to by the family for years and was found reduced to a stump by Audrey’s daughter, Gayle Ramouz on Thursday (May 12).

The family say they had received no letter or warning from the council or Forhousing who manage the property.

Gayle said she was ‘shocked’ to find the tree that had played such a pivotal part in her childhood missing.

She said: “I was shocked because there was just a stump there, all the branches had been cut off. My mum’s mum planted the tree from saplings from Delamere Forest and they’ve grown to a ridiculous size in 80 odd years. It feels like part of the family has gone.”

Gayle says that Audrey was at home when the tree was being felled but was none-the-wiser due to her hearing and sight problems, however, she said that Audrey does remember somebody coming to the door to speak to her but she was ‘totally confused’.

Gayle said: “She didn’t even know! She wasn’t aware because she can’t see around the corner and she doesn’t go out of the house.

“The bit she can remember is that somebody knocked on the door about the tree, but she didn’t understand and she was totally confused.

“She can’t remember anything else that they said.”

The tree was one of many which was planted by Audrey and her mother in the area that year.

Nigel Sedman, Group Director of Homes at ForHousing, said: “Last week, ForHousing carried out work to remove a large sycamore tree at Ms Wright’s home as it was causing structural damage to both the garden wall and the pavement near her home.

“We spoke to Ms Wright around one month before the work was started and again on the day the tree was removed to explain that we needed to take down the tree because of our safety concerns.

“We are very sorry for the distress this has caused and have apologised to Ms Wright and her family.

“We will continue to work with them so they have full input into plans for a replacement tree.”

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