A Phenomenon .......

...... here in my garden!

Reet, well, a couple of weeks ago, I had a tree blown down by that storm so, today, I've been shifting some of the branches.
I noticed that the trunk of the tree, about 10 inches diameter, had, over the years, grown round a B.T. telephone cable so that the cable was actually passing through the trunk of the tree!
I've never seen this before with a cable, although I've seen trees grow around wrought iron fences, and I'd have thought it wouldn't happen due to the cable being very moveable?

It's one of them things you see on American paranormal programmes - a "Phenomenon" (said with an American accent, of course)!

Anyroadup, here's somepictures of it .......

In one side - and -
Out the other!

Ye Gods,how on earth has that happened,and is that a Tibetan Cherry tree Tonks.

No, it was one of five leylandii that started as a hedge, but got out of control, and ended up forty foot tall. There's a forty year old Christmas tree too. All need to come down soon.

I've got a Leylandii that must be twice that size but it's dead..it's right at the back of the greenhouse..if the gales blow it down, bang goes my greenhouse.

Just thinking Tonks,how are you going to saw through that tree without catching the cable with the saw,or is that a daft question.

The tree is down. The cable snapped off the nearby pole when the tree came down. Nobody has complained,yet, so I presume the cable was not in use. I'll cut it into pieces with the chainsaw and hope someone will take them for firewood.

Tonks: how old was that cable, what were the wires like inside? Really good, that.

I'd say thats been drilled, if you look at the 'coming out' there is evidence of the drill track, The cable fitter drilled the tree and routed the cable throu it,

Mmmmm

Tonks... Aster nee'r heard of a Trunk Call.

He's barking up wrung tree BB

Is that not a cable, cable, as in Virgin Media now, or Southwestern Bell in 1992 when the network was put in, and then it became Cable Northwest, and then Telewest.

When yoo had cable put in, it was done by two fellas, one would doo the inside work, and one would do the outside work, and they swapped in turns, as in the next job they did, the outside before fella, would do the inside work, and vice versa.

So it is found that a tree is right up close to the cable entry point at the wall, and it is found to be impossible to bend the cable around the tree, so the cable mon says to the customer, "wi cawn't doo it, tree in't way" customer says "can you not just drill an hole through tree"

"When yoo had cable put in, it was done by two fellas"

If a tree was in the way, they'd have to send ....... Tree Fellas"!

Tonker ,I presume that was inside your property, or was that near to a pavement.
Usually cables of that diameter belonging to BT would be in a duct.
It would be interesting to know who it belonged to originally.
Great pictures and very interesting thread.

Tonker

"If a tree was in the way, they'd have to send ....... Tree Fellas"!"

Fossil, yes, the tree was inside my property, a metre from a footpath and two metres from a telegraph pole. The cable is bt's normal overhead line, 4 pair, off a bt telegraph pole. It went from the pole, on my side, to a house across the road and about 60 or 70 metres away, but my trees had grown past it over the years. It's not been drilled-through.

Tonker,the diameter of the tree is confusing,making the size of the wire look larger than what you describe as a BT cable.
I worked for BT for 30 years so that is why I asked the questions.

I’ll tell you what, Tonker, growing round a telephone cable must really age a tree - just think of how many extra rings inside there’d be.

Brilliant phenomenon!

I think tha are in Dickies Meadow

It’s MY meadow. Dickie can rag off!

Fossil, two pairs of copper (orange, white, green and black) and a pair of ht catenaries !

It's a dropwire then! More than likely discarded by an untidy linesman!

It could have been one rushing back to cricket match

Snap.I was thinking exactly the same thing.

broadly I was thinking the same,but the rushing description put me off!

broadly I was thinking the same,but the rushing description put me off!

Apologies broady predictive text calling you broadly!
Better than boredy

No problem Sir.

tonks

If only you could have found a K2 on the end of that cable. They are worth a bob or two!