We’re having to say get a 300-year-old sycamore tree at the bottom of the garden felled. It’s right on the boundary between our house and the church next door, and we knew nothing (Jon Snow) until someone cutting the church’s grass noticed it was bleeding sap on that side.

We had a few people come out to investigate, and basically this towering tree is hollow in the trunk, so, even though it’s still living and growing, it’s not very stable and strong winds could make it fall… not ideal when Barry’s office is directly beneath it on our side, and it’s a public space on the other side. This photo’s taken from the church – it’s the tree on the left.

This hole is apparently where a branch was lopped off 80 or 90 years ago and wasn’t properly resealed, which is how it’s come to be hollow. A tree surgeon put a 4ft metal pole in to see how far it went… it went further than he could reach with the pole.

We got a few quotes and the church did too, and the most reasonable came back at £750, which thankfully is being split.

It’s around 30ft tall, so it’ll take a couple of days to fell, and they’ll be working from the church side. The guy is coming in a few weeks, so watch this space!