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Known to be Parkes’ tallest and oldest tree at 151 yeas old, the “bellringer’s” pine towering over Currajong Street has sadly bowed out.
This old girl came crashing down about 9pm on Sunday much to the shock of its owners and neighbours who all came out to see what the noise was.
Falling almost entirely across what would usually be a busy Currajong Street during the day, miraculously it did not take out any powerlines or vehicles, and thankfully no one was injured.
It did come within centimetres of its owner’s car parked on the road but didn’t leave a mark.
“It sounded like lightning, there was a loud crack followed by a reverberating boom," owner Bec Scully said.
"I opened the curtains and all I could see was a plume of dust.
"Everybody was outside when I walked outside."
Neighbours said they heard a "whooshing" sound and a thud.
SES volunteers, Parkes Shire Council workers and police arrived and barricaded the street off until the tree could be removed.
Steve McGrath's Tree Service arrived at 9am on Monday for the mammoth task.
It took them most of the day to cut-up and clear the pine, the road not reopening to traffic until about 4pm.
A 20-tonne Franna crane was called-in to help remove the trunk and roots, which half were still attached to the tree and in the ground.
Steve McGrath said the first log from the trunk they removed was 3.5 tonne.
"And it wasn't even half the tree," he added.
It appeared the tree was suffering from dry rot.
It took a bit of time to snap the base from its roots and the last remnants scattered across the road, its needle leaves and pine cones were picked up and swept by a street sweeper.
Bec and her family have only called the property home since September, but its former residents passed onto them a little history of this beautiful giant.
In 1999 it was named Tree of the Year, its plaque passed onto Bec along with some photos and the November 19, 1999 front page article that ran in the Parkes Champion Post announcing its new title.
The tree was planted by one of Parkes’ pioneers, Robert Thomas Budd, a former goldminer well known in Parkes as the town night watchman and bellringer.
With his wife Susan and their family, they originally moved to Parkes in a tip dray (two-wheeled, single-horse-drawn cart) in 1874.
In 1875 their fourth child and first daughter Agnes Mary was born.
According to the article, Robert Budd planted a pine tree outside his small shingle home in lower Currajong Street to celebrate the occasion.
Until Sunday night, this tree still stood in the front yard at 19 Currajong Street, although the block boasts a more modern home.
Local tree enthusiast Herb Unger, the prime instigator behind the Tree of the Year concept, said at the time the tree is a radiata pine which when mature can typically grow to heights of 25 to 50 metres, and is the oldest and tallest tree in Parkes.
It’s believed this pine was about 23-25 metres tall.
The pine was named Tree of the Year in the second year of the award. Owners at the time were Pat and Mat Talbot.
The first Tree of the Year award in 1998 went to the bottle tree in the grounds of the technical college (TAFE) in Bushman Street, which was planted by the late Col Freebairn's father James Freebairn.
The "bellringer's" tree can be found in many town photos published in Parkes history books, among the most familiar is the one taken from the top of the Parkes silos looking north in 1932.
The pine's neighbours, some who have been living in the street for 40 years, said it’s going to leave quite a gap.
"It's always been there, we’re going to miss it," they said.
