Knitters in Bassetlaw village create a huge wooly Christmas tree

The 3.5metre – 11.48ft tall tree at Nether Langwith’s green was made by the village’s Knit ‘n’ Natter group, with help from friends and family.

It has taken around six months for the dozen group members to crochet all 1,845 10cm granny squares.

The group, who meet in the village hall every Wednesday afternoon, have knitted poppies for Remembrance Sunday over the last few years, but decided to take on a new project for 2021.

Janet Smith, who has lived in the village for about five years, came up with the idea for the knitters.

She said: “The group took on board the idea; to be fair, most were pretty sceptical that we'd actually be able to do it. So I set about with graph paper, the internet and tried to work out how many squares we'd need and how they would be joined together, as well as the structure to actually hold the tree up.

“We're really chuffed to bits with the way it's actually turned out. As I say, there was some scepticism in the village, so it has surprised quite a few people.”

The panels were structured out of plastic plumbing pipes, fittings, netting and a scaffolding pole up its middle.

Janet shared the group’s exclusive plans for next year: “Our village green has got a stream running across it, and we've approached Sheffield University with the idea of generating hydro power from our stream to create Christmas lights for [the tree] next year.”