An unassuming community champion who defied vandals has been praised for rebuilding an emblematic wooden tree in the heart of a Saddleworth village.

Originally, retired joiner Chris Bannatyne hand built a tree from pieces of wooden pallets he assembled in his “man shed ” in Delph.

It quickly became a landmark with locals and visitors taking walks past its riverside setting.

His wife Sharon said: ”The first tree was put up in December 2022. It was only meant to be there for Christmas, but I suggested to Chris to leave it up and then throughout the year add different wood carvings, depending on the event.

The Oldham Times:

“We put carvings representing Valentines Day, St Patrick’s Day, St George’s Day, football carvings for both the men and women’s football, Mother’s Day , Father’s Day the Easter Bunny and many more.

“The tree is made up of pieces of wood all individually hand sanded and stained. Each individual carving can take up to a day to make and paint.

“The tree attracted lots of attention and people stop to look and have their photograph taken with it in the background. It was so disappointing to find it had pushed it into the river after it had recently undergone a refurbishment.”

But the tree was targeted on Easter Sunday by vandals in a wave of attacks which wrecked greenhouses, damaged cars and walls on a rampage though Uppermill, Dobcross and Delph.

The Oldham Times:

Chris, who has now refurbished the tree, said:  “The vandals pushed the tree into the river. But I didn’t realise how much the tree had become part of the village until it was destroyed.

“It has become part of the village - it’s the Delph tree now. Children have added colourful stones too… but I didn’t realize it was admired by so many people.”

Councillor Pam Byrne, who represents Saddleworth North, said: "Eeryone loves the tree. It is truly part of the village and it’s a tribute to Chris. The whole community were really upset when the tree was damaged."