Ancient tree crashes in to home (From Stroud News and Journal)

Ancient tree crashes in to home

A WOODCHESTER couple had a narrow escape yesterday when howling gales brought a tree crashing through their house.

Stuart Marshall of Lawns Park was in the shower when the ancient Beech tree fell shortly after 8am yesterday, just as the heavens opened unleashing hailstones the size of peas.

"I heard an almighty crash," said Mr Marshall. "It sounded like somebody had let off a jumbo rocket on bonfire night about ten feet from my ear.

"Then there was this awful splintering noise then a massive thud." "I wondered what the heck it was but I realised almost straight away.

Mr Marshall said that he always suspected the tree which is his neighbours land would come down eventually."

After the crash Mr Marshall and his wife Erica rushed to see what had happened. "The damage was revealed to us as we looked out the window and we found ourselves staring at a sea of branches," he told the News & Journal.

The majestic tree, which is several hundred years old, was something of a landmark in the area but he had always feared it might be brought down in a storm.

For more on this story and much more Five Valleys news, see this week's SNJ