The removal of an historic horse chestnut tree last Friday, with some confusion as to whether or not it had a Tree Preservation Order on it, has sparked a row this week after local people had previously got in touch with Radstock resident and Westfield B&NES Councillor, Eleanor Jackson, to try to save it.

Cllr Jackson said she was “furious” that the tree had been removed and would be demanding a replacement tree be planted in its place.

It is thought that the tree was planted by Samuel Lloyd Harvey, who lived at 2 Foxhills, which led up to the Marcroft Works. Relatives have described his garden and allotment to Cllr Jackson vividly, with the horse chestnut tree being planted in 1919, before the town’s War Memorial was erected.

Cllr Jackson says: “I am very upset about all this. Not only have we lost the Jubilee Oak from The Street because of the careless way it was removed to Writhlington School, contrary to RHS guidelines, but now another historic tree has disappeared.”

Mr Harvey founded the Radstock Flower Show and was a noted horticulturalist and botanist. He died in 1952, aged 94.

Cllr Jackson said: “If there wasn’t a Tree Preservation Order on this particular tree, an emergency order should have been made. I am now calling for a replacement, because Samuel Lloyd Harvey turns out to have been a truly remarkable man.”

Further research has uncovered that indeed he was a well known and highly respected gentleman to the people of Radstock, living with his wife, Julia, and their children – two boys and two girls. He was employed by the former Great Western Railway Company and was promoted to Station Master, being transferred to Midsomer Norton South Station during the early 1900s. He was then offered the position as Chief Clerk in the offices at the Radstock Coal and Wagon Works Company at Foxhills, where he was provided with housing. He remained working there under Marcroft Wagon Works and didn’t retire until he was seventy. He loved to research and collect information on local history and wrote numerous articles published in the local press at the time.

Using his expert knowledge of the rail system, Samuel Lloyd Harvey organised an excursion to Killarney, Ireland, which would have been very adventurous back in 1909. Many local people joined him and the long trip was made by train and boat.

He was also an active member of the Hearts of Oak Benefit Society, which helped people during times of hardship, using his wood carving skills to create collecting boxes. Samuel Lloyd Harvey worked tirelessly for the St John Ambulance, designing the first horse drawn stretcher and ambulance and received an award from the Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward VII, when he visited the area in 1904.

Mr Harvey was a very active member of St Nicholas’ Church, Radstock, and helped to excavate a thirteenth century stone cross from the churchyard, which was restored and postitioned back in the church and he also sourced the sundial which is still in situ today. Furthermore, he donated a gift of pictures to enhance the reading room at the Victoria Hall in the late 1800s.

His family are now asking for this influential man to be remembered as part of the town’s regeneration, suggesting a linear garden to connect the regenerated parts of Victoria Square to the older, historical areas of Foxhills (Area Three) in tribute to someone who loved plants so much, or a ‘Living Pathway’, which would connect to the cyclepath. There is also the suggestion that one of the new roads should reflect his name.

B&NES Council could not comment on the TPO as The Journal went to press, however, there has been the suggestion that the tree was rotten and split in the centre, so was unsafe. Currently, B&NES Council’s Parks and Green Spaces department are working with ecologists to improve the habitat between Radstock and Kilmersdon, which has involved clearing by specialists. The aim is to open up views across the valley and to create meadows, encouraging colonies of rare flowering plants, invertebrates, slow worms and common lizards in the area and to compensate for the loss of scrub and grassland as part of the area’s housing development. Residents in Meadow View have expressed their concern at the amount of trees that have been cleared as part of the development.