Britain’s oldest Christmas tree has been put up for the 104th year in a row.
Kay Ashton, 70, says the tree can only go up for two or three days a year as it is getting ‘increasingly more fragile’.
Purchased from Woolworths for sixpence by Kay’s grandmother Elizabeth Naylor in 1920, the artificial tree, thought to be Britain’s oldest, stands at less than two-feet tall.
The tree survived Hitler’s bombs in the Blitz during the Second World War and eight house moves to stay in the family for three generations.
The grandmother-of-three, from Sheffield, South Yorks., said: “It’s still fighting for its life.
“It only goes up for maybe two or three days now, because it’s getting increasingly more fragile, it falls over quite frequently.”
Kay, who retired from working for BT four years ago, says she thinks the damaged tree is beyond repair, but that its flaws are part of its charm.
She added: “To be honest, I don’t want it to be overdone, it’s part of it now.
“It’s got Blitz damage, it’s got other damage.
“It could do with a bit of a facelift, but nothing too much.”
The tree, which stands at 18 inches (45 cm), has survived four monarchs and 23 prime ministers.
It was damaged during a Blitz of Sheffield’s steelworks in December 1940 when the city was bombarded by the Luftwaffe for four days, killing almost 700 people and damaging 82,000 houses out of 150,000.
Kay said the impact of the bomb blast launched the plucky decoration from the kitchen to the living room and sticky tape was used to repair it.
Despite its small stature, the tree still brings laughter to the whole of Kay’s family.
Kay said: “It’s a standing joke and has been for year, it’s just a case of ‘when is the twig going up?’”
