We share the sad news that John Hanner, former Fellow of the Arboricultural Association and founder of South Wales Tree Surgeons, died in September 2022. His eldest daughter Wendy Probert sent us this account of John’s life.
John Hanner lectured at Cardington in the 1970s and was gratified by the favourable comments left by the attendees. (Does anyone remember the fungi that looked like ‘dainty donkey dung’?)
Having worked in forestry he realised people were better paid for more specialised and dangerous work. He set about teaching himself tree surgery at a time when there was little or no instruction available in his location. Not a mean feat considering he had first to conquer his innate fear of heights.
His lectures at Cardington led to his first contract abroad, at the governor’s residence in Gibraltar. This led to him practising his profession at British Embassies in 18 different cities abroad, as disparate as Peking, Helsinki, Bangkok, Rome, Tokyo, Paris, Accra, Nepal, Tehran and Baghdad. The latter two visits were carried out during the years of war between Iraq and Iran. He was always grateful to the many local groundmen who assisted him in his tasks, who for his short time with them became his great friends, and who lived in his memories for many years afterwards.
During Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee in 1977, John donated his time and work for free to save the famous Usk Cedar, the seed of which was reputed to have been brought back by Trelawney. The tree had been threatened with felling due to fears of it falling. John found no trace of fungal decay and was able to save it with some judicious pruning.
As he became older, he changed profession, working as a Grounds Maintenance Consultant to the Welsh Office Historic Monuments Branch, later for CADW. He eventually retired at 79, much to our mum Marie’s relief!
He led an interesting life, and while waiting in airports on his many travels, he wrote poetry and later published a small volume, with proceeds going to Save the Children. Later, at his family’s insistence, he wrote another small booklet, about his life, including a small piece on identifying fungi in trees for tree owners. This latter book’s proceeds went to the St David’s Foundation Hospice, and they were later to help care for him before he passed away at the age of 90, on the day of the late Queen’s funeral.
His pastimes included, in his younger years, boxing (at country shows), magic and conjuring (he became a member of the Magic Circle for a while), photography, angling, walking around the countryside of his youth, listening to classical music, and in later life, painting in watercolour and pastels and of course writing. Since childhood he had been fascinated by words. He also loved animals and among many other family pets he also kept llamas. He would often be seen walking one or several of them around the country lanes, even training them to sit down on command, just like a dog!
John is survived by his wife Marie, his three daughters, Wendy, Jenny and Penny, and three grandchildren, Gareth, Esther and Robert. He was able to see his great-grandson Henry in the months before he passed away.
This article was taken from Issue 200 Spring 2023 of the ARB Magazine, which is available to view free to members by simply logging in to the website and viewing your profile area.