'Brenda' tree carving found in New Forest after Facebook appeal

The family do not know exactly when Brenda's name was carved in to the tree

A tree carved with the name of a family's late grandmother has been found following an appeal on social media.

Michelle Wheeler's grandfather Michael Banyard had told her about the carving of his late wife's name, Brenda, before his death in 2018.

After finding an apparent grid reference for the New Forest in an old diary, she put an appeal on Facebook and the tree was located within days.

She said finding it "meant so much".

Mr Banyard died in 2018, aged 83, two years after Brenda died, aged 79. The couple were married in 1954.

Michael and Brenda Banyard were frequent visitors to the New Forest

Ms Wheeler said her grandparents were keen participants of letterboxing - an activity similar to geocaching, and had probably carved Brenda's name on one of their trips to the New Forest from their home in Farnborough.

She hoped to find the tree after coming across a note in her grandfather's old diaries.

It said "Brenda tree" followed by a series of numbers which Ms Wheeler took to be an OS grid reference.

After travelling from her home in Basingstoke to the New Forest and failing to find it herself, she put out an appeal on Facebook.

Laura Houghton found the tree using the grid reference and a location app

Laura Houghton, from New Milton, was among those who saw it and began hunting for the tree at Vinney Ridge Inclosure, near Brockenhurst.

She said her initial search was "like looking for a needle in a haystack" but on returning the following day, "committed" to tracking down the tree using the grid reference and a location app, she found it.

"I actually felt so emotional," she said, adding: "It was silent and so beautiful."

She continued: "Kindness and time costs nothing but could mean so much to someone."

Ms Wheeler said: "I was also totally blown away by the actions and comments of total strangers.

"Without Laura... I'm not sure we would ever have found it. We were very close to giving up."