A 'spindly' Stirlingshire Christmas tree was adopted by a family from London - and taken all the way home on public transport.
Ruth Savery was visiting her daughter, Jackie, and grandkids north of the border and was invited along to select their tree from Duff Trees in Buchlyvie.
But when a small pine not expected to find a home for Christmas caught her eye she vowed to take it all the way to west London via ScotRail, the Caledonian Sleeper - where it presumably slept like a log - and the tube.
Jackie told The Herald: "We went to choose our tree as normal, then she spotted this little tree she thought people probably wouldn’t choose because it was a bit more spindly and she thought it would be nice to get it and take it back down with her.
“They were travelling on public transport so obviously this Christmas tree, which is about a metre-and-a-half tall, had to go on the train at Milngavie, then they were travelling on the Caledonian Sleeper so it went on the sleeper with them.
“They’re not very big, those cabins, so I’ve no idea how they fitted it in. But there are no tickets required for Christmas trees.
“I thought it was such a mad project and she was so determined to take it that I said to take pictures of it on its journey because I wanted to see it when it got there, so she photographed it the whole way down.
“They got to Euston station and then took it on the tube to west London.”
The tree is now safely decorated and in its new home, but Ruth got some strange looks and bemused reactions on the journey.
Jackie explains: "She’d never been to a Christmas tree farm before. Most of the trees in London are grown in Scotland, and she’d never seen them on a farm.
“It’s so much fun being able to pick them and I really like Duff’s because they donate to red squirrel conservation and have good environmental credentials.
“We go there every year and there are always loads of family arguments about who chooses which tree and all that.
“They were visiting that weekend so I said, ‘oh you’ll have to come and help us choose our tree’ – not thinking they were also going to choose a tree to take back home again.
Read More: White-tailed eagle watched by millions flies to Mull for Christmas with family
“Once my mum has an idea she’s going to do something she can’t not do it.
“The guys there thought it was hilarious.
“You take your tree to be packaged up and it’s normally for a mile back to Glasgow or Stirlingshire – not 450 miles on public transport.
"My mum said the people at Euston made comments and were a bit surprised, as were the attendants on the sleeper."
However, it seems the rule that no-one talks to each other on London's tube service remains firmly in place - even in the matter of festive firs.
"Absolutely nobody commented on it on the tube at all as though it were a totally normally thing," Jackie laughs.
"Clearly anything goes on the tube!
“It makes you realise how far things have to travel when you’re actually doing it yourself.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel