BLAKENEY residents concerned that the magnificent willow that had become a village-centre landmark has been cut to a mere stump need not worry, says the man who had it cut down.
"It hasn't been removed, it has been pollarded. It is already starting to grow back if you look at the top," said the owner of the village Post Office Duncan Terry.
The tree, growing on a patch of land in front of the post office where the brook is culverted beneath the A48, had become so big it was a hazard for road traffic and passers-by, he said.
"I saw Highways Agency men cutting a bit off it and since I own it I thought I'd better ask what they were doing. They said it was a hazard and that they were going to put in a report to have it pollarded.
"I decided to act. It had reached 60 or 70 feet and I dread to think what might have happened if it had fallen on anybody. It was also beginning to crack the wall."
Mr Terry said the work had been agreed with the planning authority after going through proper planning procedures because it was in a conservation area. The application was also discussed by the parish council.
"We will have to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't grow so big again," he said, adding that it was last trimmed some 20 years ago.
He had inherited the tree when he brought the Post Office from former parish chairman Elmes Cook, and he believed Mr Cook had planted it as a present for his wife.
"I also think he believed the tree was a miniature variety," he said.
He also thought the tree would grow back quickly again. "After all, it has got its roots in the river," he said.
"And if anybody would like to chip in for the £250 I had to pay for it to be trimmed I would be grateful – I'm not going to let it get that big again."