By Danielle Kutchel
Each day, hundreds of shoppers pass a little bit of history in the Berwick Woolworths carpark.
An old oak tree, sturdy and strong, spreads its boughs across the aisles of parked cars, a remnant of bygone days.
The tree was planted there 60 years ago and has somehow stood through time, building works and severe weather.
It’s a marvel, according to the woman who first dropped the acorn into the dirt there as an eight-year-old.
Now 68, Julie Ann Hock reminisces with pride on ‘her’ oak tree.
“It’s incredible that it’s still there!” she said.
The oak tree in the carpark is of the same genus as the trees growing in Peel Street, opposite Pioneers Park – the former Berwick Primary School.
During the autumn of 1961, Ms Hock remembered, the trees on Peel Street were shedding their acorns. As a curious eight-year-old, she picked one up and took it home, planting it near the boundary fence of her backyard.
“Mum was at the kitchen window watching me and snippily remarked ‘oh that will never grow!’ Well, wonder of wonders, it did!” she said.
Ms Hock’s family home has long since disappeared and been replaced by the Woolworths complex, but somehow the oak remains.
As well as surviving development, the tree managed to avoid being pulled out by Ms Hock’s dad as it grew.
Its boughs have held generations of her family; her grandfather put a swing on the tree that was used by Ms Hock’s son as a child.
The tree also lives on at Ms Hock’s Beaconsfield property, where her grandad continued the tradition by planting some of its acorns in potting mix. That oak now shades Ms Hock’s backyard and serves as a reminder of its Berwick cousin.
She said she still looks upon her Berwick oak with love.
“They could’ve pulled it out when they did the carpark, but they didn’t,” she said.
“I feel quite honoured that they left it there. I’m hoping it will go on living for a long time.”
