The weeping willow tree

We have all heard of the Wānaka Tree that is now world famous and a symbol of our area, but have you heard of the Weeping Willow Tree in Ardmore St that was an important feature in the early days of Pembroke? It even had similar beginnings to the later Wānaka Tree – a piece of willow purposely stuck in the ground!

This Weeping Willow Tree does not exist anymore, but imagine it halfway out into Ardmore St. In the above photo you will note the three petrol bowsers which extend into what we now know as the street. Back in the late 1920s when this photo was taken, the street was not much more than a single-lane gravel track. When the tree first showed a glimmer of life, it was but a dirt-track.

There is more than one story about the tree’s origin, but the descendants of John Barclay Ewing claim that it was John who planted a stake opposite the Wānaka Hotel. Richard Norman in writing about another newspaper report on the tree’s origins involving buried beer bottles, would only go so far to state that an 8-foot willow stick was planted in 1868 and it rooted and grew.

It grew very well, and it is reported that it became the focus of casual street meetings and where locals posted notices on its trunk. No doubt it was also handy to tie up the horse whilst the rider visited the hotel across the road!

This photo was taken probably between 1925-27. You can spot the notices nailed to the tree.

There had been a few requests to remove the tree. It was reported as being diseased and finally in June 1937 it was removed. This was perhaps the first move to restructure the alignment of Ardmore St into what we know today.