Woman Decides To Cut Down Dead Apple Tree, What She Finds Inside Brings Her Police Protection

In November 2015, a quiet afternoon in Back Hill took a startling turn when a woman discovered an unexploded hand grenade hidden inside an old apple tree in her garden.

Christine Battersby had hired tree specialist Glen Conway to remove the long-dead tree, believed to be part of a centuries-old monastic orchard. As Conway worked his way down to the trunk, he uncovered the grenade lodged in a hollow at its base. Acting quickly, he alerted police, who cordoned off the area and urged residents to stay indoors.

Authorities called in Colchester’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit, a specialized division of the British Army’s Royal Logistic Corps. As a precaution, sandbags were placed around the tree overnight, and the grenade was safely disposed of the next morning around 8 a.m.

Due to concerns that wartime memorabilia hunters might attempt to retrieve the device, Mrs. Battersby was placed under police protection until the ordnance was removed.

A police spokesperson thanked local business Jewsons, Ely, for providing materials to secure the site. The EOD Regiment, established after World War II, specializes in counter-terrorist bomb disposal and the recovery of historic munitions, with teams positioned nationwide for rapid response.

Mrs. Battersby credited Conway’s calm professionalism for preventing panic. The discovery, likely dating back decades, served as a reminder that remnants of wartime can still surface in unexpected places — even in the hollow of a fruit tree.