EIGHTY years after an English ash tree was planted at Hollybank Forest Reserve for the Alexander Patent Racket Company it will be made into a cabinet and trophies for Tennis Tasmania.
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The tree is one of 21,600 trees planted in 1933 in the hope they would provide ash for tennis racquets.
The idea to use it for sections of a memorabilia cabinet and trophies was that of historian and author of What a Racket! Gus Green.
Mr Green's uncle Stephen Hopwood was a former director of the company and also a director of the English ash plantation.
``What we want is a cabinet to show off some . . . memorabilia and I thought it would be nice to have some of the ash trees used to make it,'' Mr Green said.
Working with Forestry Tasmania, Mr Green was able to have one of the trees cut down as it was apparently rotting and could be a danger to the reserve's visitors.
``It's the first time one of the trees planted has been harvested and will be used for the reason intended,'' Forestry Tasmania community liaison officer Tony Scott said.
Mr Scott said the trees were never harvested for the company because they struggled to grow due to the acidity of the soil.
Mr Green said the company had spent more than 15,000 importing English ash for its tennis racquets by 1933, so it was seen as more cost effective to plant its own.
He said the cabinet would hold memorabilia of the company, while the trophies would be bookends and presented to Tennis Tasmania's top junior boy and girl. The cabinet will be available for viewing from May 11 at the PCYC, in Wentworth Street, Newstead, the former location of the racket company, as part of the National Trust's Heritage Month festivities.
