The Broad Oak could be about to lose its actual broad oak, and the people of Strelley are absolutely not having it

There are certain things you probably shouldn’t mess with in a Nottinghamshire village.

The pub. The village green. The parking. And apparently, the massive oak tree everyone has become emotionally attached to.

Residents in Strelley are rallying to save a much-loved oak outside the Broad Oak pub after plans were submitted to chop it down.

And this isn’t just any old tree.

Thought to be at least 100 years old, the oak has become something of a local landmark, with one villager describing it as a “totem for the whole village”.

Which feels like a fairly clear warning to anyone arriving with a chainsaw.

The tree stands in the grounds of the Broad Oak on Main Street. While it isn’t actually the original tree that gave the pub its name, villagers say it has kept that connection alive for generations.

Greene King, which owns the pub, submitted an application in October to have the tree felled after an inspection raised concerns about its condition.

But Strelley has other ideas.

Broxtowe Borough Council slapped a provisional Tree Preservation Order on the oak on November 10, meaning it can’t now be felled without the council’s consent.

The authority will decide whether to make that protection permanent, and the issue could eventually end up before a planning committee.

Greene King can object before a final decision is made.

‘What would you call it if the Broad Oak was cut down?’

Cllr Phillip Owen, who represents Nuthall East and Strelley, has summed up one fairly obvious problem with getting rid of the tree.

He said: “It is the Broad Oak pub, and what would you call it if the Broad Oak was cut down?”

Honestly, fair point.

He added: “It would be an absolute travesty if it had to be cut down. Greene King have been told to reassess their proposals.

“It is certainly a mature tree, but in terms of oak trees is not particularly old when you think about the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest.

“It would be unusual for a tree of that age to have so much damage that it would have to be cut down completely.

“So there will have to be more assessments to it. The villagers of Strelley are not going to give up the Broad Oak lightly, let’s put it like that.”

So why does Greene King want to cut it down?

This is where things get slightly more complicated.

Greene King commissioned tree maintenance company Sky High to inspect the oak, and the resulting report identified a series of potentially serious problems.

Inspector Darran Burke said a ground-level assessment had found “a number of significant physiological and structural defects”.

These included brown cubical decay, declining crown vitality and evidence of fungal activity.

There had also recently been a significant branch failure.

Because the tree stands in a busy pub beer garden, the report warned that another large branch coming down while customers were underneath it could have serious consequences.

The report recommended urgent action.

Which is considerably less whimsical than “village rallies around beloved tree”.

But villagers reckon the tree can be saved

Keith Harrison, who established a nine-acre community wilding project in the area, isn’t convinced chopping down the whole thing is necessary.

He said the oak appears to be in “great shape” and believes potentially dangerous branches could be managed, particularly during stormy weather.

For locals, he says, its importance goes far beyond providing a nice bit of shade with your pint.

Villagers “see the Broad Oak tree as a totem of the whole village”, he said.

And he’s sceptical about the conclusions of the inspection.

“The report by their guy reminds me very much of when two parties are arguing over the value of a property,” he said.

Another villager backing the campaign is Reece Oliver, who has a lion enclosure in the village, because apparently this story wasn’t Nottinghamshire enough already.

He said: “It is part of the history of the village.

“I don’t believe enough evidence to warrant it to be removed. Now it has a TPO it would qualify to go to a planning committee, where before that it wouldn’t.

“Unless circumstances prevail that it is completely dangerous and a threat to life, it shouldn’t be cut down.”

The pub says public safety has to come first

The Broad Oak insists it understands why people are so attached to the tree.

A spokesperson said: “We fully appreciate the significance of this tree to both the pub and the local community.

“We remain committed to following the appropriate process whilst balancing conservation considerations with our responsibility to safeguard the public.”

A Sonic Tomography survey is now being carried out to get a better idea of what’s going on inside the tree.

Basically, it’s a scan that can map the oak’s internal structure and reveal areas of decay without having to cut it open.

The findings are expected to be reviewed before being discussed with the council.

So the tree isn’t out of the woods yet.

Sorry.

And the Broad Oak story goes back way further

There are several versions of how the pub got its name, but the village has a particularly lovely one.

Martin Milmoe, chairman of the Strelley Village Group, said the original oak stood in parkland north of Strelley Hall, in an area known as Oak Close.

According to the story, Squire Edge, who served as High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, ordered a sapling to be taken from that tree and planted outside the Broad Oak pub roughly 100 years ago.

The original tree survived until 1982, when it was set on fire by persons unknown and later felled on safety grounds.

CAMRA records another version of the story, linking the pub’s name to a once-famous oak towards the north of Clipstone Park in Sherwood Forest.

Whites Directory of 1832 apparently recorded that particular monster as having a circumference of 27.5 feet.

Whichever version you believe, one thing is pretty obvious.

Strelley has been taking its oak trees extremely seriously for a very, very long time.

And if the current tree really is going to come down, Greene King may have a village-sized fight on its hands.

By Joe Locker (Local Democracy Reporter) with extra gubbins by Laura Wilde