Fred Pickstone (February 2004)
The magnificent tree on the Village Green can-hardly fail to attract the attention of visitors to Husthwaite. If they look at the boundary wall of St Nicholas Church, opposite the tree, they might discover an inscription on one of the stones, which reads:
Queen's Jubilee 1897 Elm Tree Planted on the Green by William Harrison of Acaster Hill
Should anyone give the tree a second glance, they might also discover that its leaves are not those of an elm. I am told it is actually a lime.
"So it's not the tree planted in 1897?" "Correct."
The elm died before the Second World War, living about 40 years. This is not surprising when we learn that roadmen used the Green as a dumping ground for tired macadam and redundant rubble. The hole for the lime was dug by Frank Hughill of Acaster Hill before he was called into the Army, early in 1939, when peacetime conscription was introduced for the first time in the UK. Frank worked for Charlie Slater, who ran a joinery and undertaking business from The White House, where he lived, overlooking the Green. Probably that is why Frank dug the hole.
These facts prompt a few questions. Who suggested the replacement tree? Was it Charlie Slater, who lived next to the Green? Was there an official planting ceremony? Who paid for the new tree? Was the Parish Council involved? Should the "new' tree (now 60 years old) be brought to the attention of visitors? Can anyone answer some of these questions to put the record straight?
My thanks to Frank's sister, Betty Dowson, for much of this information. P. S. Old photographs show that there were no railings round the Green in 1936, but there were in 1941, even though "there was a war on".
Maybe some committee, or person, felt that the lime tree needed a better chance of long-term survival than the elm!!