Does Malcolm own UK's oldest Christmas tree?

Dec 18 2011 by Coreena Ford, Sunday Sun

IS this the oldest Christmas tree in the North?

It’s a golden oldie that’s fit for a king ... in fact, it’s been around for three monarchs!

We called out for readers to come forward after telling how a thrifty family in Somerset have been using the same tree for 74 years.

Malcolm Nesbit can beat that because he was just a tiny baby when his Christmas tree first become a festive fixture in his family, back in 1936. That makes it 75 years old, just like him.

The tree still takes pride of place in his Newcastle home ... although the real candles it came with would be deemed something of an “elf and safety” hazard these days.

Malcolm, a retired health service worker, gets the 1.2m (4ft) artificial tree out of his loft every year and is always amazed to find it’s still going strong, with all of its original baubles and colourful decorations.

Some of the decorations could even be due a telegram from the Queen as he reckons they could have been in the family for 100 years!

Malcolm, of Chapel House, Newcastle, said: “I’m very proud of my tree. Sometimes it might seem a bit dowdy compared with modern ones but I’m not tempted to change it, I’m too much of a traditionalist.”

Edward VIII was briefly on the throne when the tree was first bought. Made of wood, wire and fake leaves it cost little more than a few pennies from a Leicester department store.

Its decorations have since sparkled all the way through King George VI’s reign and his daughter Elizabeth II’s 60 years on the throne.

Malcolm, who has played the bagpipes in the City of Newcastle Pipe Band for more than 40 years, said: “It came with some decorations but there are some others there that were in my family way before I was born, and goodness knows how old they are.

“Some could well be around 100 years old.

“It came with real candles but I don’t usually put them on.

“After Christmas every year I fold it away, put it in its box and store it in the loft. It’s still going strong but I worry if some of the fake branches might start to snap soon.

“But it’s been up every year since I was born. And I will keep it going as long as I keep on going.”