Trust sets Christmas world record with 147ft tree

A towering redwood at a National Trust estate has earned the title of the tallest living Christmas tree in the world. The tree, standing 44.7 meters (147 feet) tall at Cragside in Northumberland, surpasses twice the height of the Angel of the North and has been growing there since the 1860s.

To meet Guinness World Records' criteria for a Christmas tree, it needed to feature at least two types of decorations. The National Trust adorned the redwood with over 1,300 festive lights and two large purple bows.

Guinness World Records adjudicator Carl Saville commented, "It was an honor to officially recognize this remarkable tree."

Decorating the tree required careful planning. A National Trust representative explained that a cherry-picker was used, and it took three people two days to hang all the lights. "Each bulb was carefully checked and positioned vertically to avoid placing stress on the tree," they said.

The achievement follows last year's recognition of the UK's tallest living Christmas tree. Cragside official Steve Howard remarked, "We wondered if we could go even further to secure a Guinness World Record and we succeeded." He also noted that keeping the record a secret in the weeks leading up to the announcement had been challenging. "We were excited to reveal this news as people everywhere were decorating their own Christmas trees," he said.

This record is entirely new. Previously, the tallest Christmas tree was a 64.6-meter (212-foot) tree erected at Northgate Shopping Center in Seattle, USA, in 1950, which was not planted in the ground like the Cragside redwood.

Author: Lucas Grant