The best intentions of men can often turn terribly awry .....
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| The Pilgrim Tree at Rushymeade Meadow |
A truth that can be seen in most of our lives where we have tried our best to help and its all gone wrong.
Voluntary work is no more immune from this truism than our personal lives. This became all too apparent to a a voluntary group in Puloxhill, Bedfordshire, England. Pulloxhill is one of the oldest settlements in Bedfordshire, dating back more than 1,000 years, and was mentioned in the Domesday Book when it was home to 11 villagers, 13 smallholders and two slaves.
This is the location where the English writer and Puritan preacher John Bunyan would hold sermons and preach 400 years ago. He is best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory The Pilgrim's Progress. The Bunyan family were probably its most famous residents, and John, a former tinker, was arrested a couple of miles away in Harlington after refusing to stop giving sermons. He spent 12 years in Bedford Gaol where he began writing The Pilgrim’s Progress. He died in 1688 aged 59 and was buried at Bunhill Fields non-conformist cemetery in London.
So the volunteer group was tasked with job of clearing the ivy and brambles from the historic 'Pilgrim Tree' at Rushymeade Meadow. A treasured local landmark, the Ash tree was actually long dead but had survived as a semi petrified 25ft trunk.
After several hours of labour the tree was clear and standing upright and visible again ...... proud of their work, the group moved to what they thought was a safe distance (Parish council chairwoman Carol McCall had told them the day before: “If you have any dry material which would help with the fire lighting, do bring that also.”), to burn the debris of brambles and ivy and lit the fire.
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| Pilgrim Tree at Rushymeade Meadow Now |
I guess that I hardly need type out what happened next ...... Yep, sparks from the fire flew to the stump and it caught alight. As the location was too difficult for the fire brigade to approach, so over four hours the tree was burnt down to a charred stump.
Ah well, like the pilgrims of old their hearts were in the right place .....
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