Gates and Railings Restored
One Sunday morning in October 2021, our majestic old Holm Oak tree unexpectedly fell over causing much damage to the park’s Grade 2 listed gates and railings on Margaret’s Hill.
Just over two years later, the gates and railings have now been fully restored by the Council’s contractors. Having remade one of the supporting pillars, the gates are now back in place and functional. And the railings have been returned to their pristine condition using most of the original ironwork and set in newly made stone footings. So, everything is looking splendid again, with all ironwork painted.
Although it’s seemingly taken a long time, the Friends are very grateful to BathNES Council and their contractors for making this happen.
And what’s happened to the poor old Holm Oak? Well, the Friends have commissioned a local craftsman to take small pieces of the tree’s huge branches and transform them into a variety of decorative and practical artefacts. These can now be bought from our web site.
Purchasing these items is a lovely way to keep alive the spirit of this wonderful old tree, so why not check out what’s on offer at https://www.hedgemead.org/merchandise. You never know, you might find that perfect Christmas present!
And by way of a reminder, here are a couple of pictures showing what the tree looked like before it fell and then on the day of its demise.
