A giant squirrel appears at the Primary School

During the Spring Term meeting of the Alderley Edge Community Primary School Governors, the Chairman, Graham Tyson, mentioned that he had been offered the services of a chainsaw sculptor and it had been suggested that if we could obtain a large log then it could be "planted" and carved into the school logo, a squirrel.

Since my partner Susan owns a woodland in Wales and I own the required kit to fell, cut and transport a large log, I offered to see if we could provide said log.

I was then provided with the rough drawing of what was required.  It was not a large log but rather a tree trunk some 4 metres long and 1.0 metre wide !  This was beyond even my skills and so a different approach was required.  

Many of you may have noticed that during the construction of the bypass a number of mature trees have been felled.  As I understand things, in the main these are regarded as waste and rarely are they put to good use.  I therefore approached Doug Mackie of Cheshire County/East Council and asked if he had one he could spare.  As it happened a small clump of trees was scheduled to be felled in the next few days close to the Hardern Park roundabout at the end of the existing bypass.  Days later I met up with Barry from Birse Civils and I chose the tree.  We needed one that appeared free from rot and which had a branch which could become the squirrel's tail.  Barry and his team from Birse then delivered the tree to the school car park.  Of course when I discussed where to cut the section of the tree that we needed I gave them a little over estimation to ensure that we had enough tree.  This process repeated itself several times as Barry briefed the chainsaw team manager and he instructed his team.  By the time the tree arrived at the school it needed a low loader and the closure of the A34 for half an hour !

Graham had arranged for Birse and Shovlin Plant Hire to dig the hole, lift the tree into the hole and hold it there whilst concrete was poured in and allowed to set. Finally we had a tree ready to carve.

Now it was Ed Pilkington's turn.  He is a parent with two children at the school and had initiated the whole scheme by offering to do the carving if we could provide the raw material.  Sadly the branch for the tail had some hidden rot inside it and so our squirrel is a little more squat than had first been planned but here he is in all his majesty.

The books that he sits on were a last minute inspiration by Ed and we are now wondering what to do with them - perhaps an annual prize draw for the best book title which will then be carved into the book spine.  Currently we have two books but maybe more might yet appear.

Thanks must go to Birse and Shovlin and to Ed for all their hard work and also to Graham Tyson for making the whole thing happen.  At least one of the trees felled for the bypass will have some form of continued life in the village.

Tags:

Alderley Edge Community Primary School, Birse, Cheshire East Council