That Tree

This is the Christmas tree which represents my childhood.

It stands on Bournville Green in Birmingham, and has been there since 1948 when it was planted by Dame Elizabeth Cadbury on her 90th birthday (I am assuming she had some help).

Every year of the first 27 of my life, I passed this tree at Christmas time. Sometimes we attended the carol service which took place around it, other times we just drove by to stand and stare.

This tree and its maintenance is taken care of by its owners, Bournville Village Trust, whose role it is to preserve this tiny slice of our major industrial second city as it has been since the Cadbury family first moved in. Both have played an important role in may family’s history, having employed large swathes of my relatives for as long as I can remember. I was practically weaned on Cadbury’s finest milk chocolate.

It may only be a tree (and it’s not even mine), but it is a magical thing to me, and symbolic of the anticipation of the family festivities which were always just around the corner when the lights were turned on.

Is there a tree local to your area which holds equally important memories for you or your family?

The lights go up