That’s the weird thing… This is a completely new piece of wood, the old one was so battered from all the celebrations over the years that they remade it with very similar wood, and took the metal pieces off and transferred them over.
I’ve not seen a high enough res picture, but it almost looks to me like it split clean, so either bad wood, or if it was from laminated pieces, a bad glue job.
Interesting! Would the wood be replaced regularly or would that have been the first time?
I believe it was the first time, the old wood was pretty knackered apparently. Its oak, so should be pretty hardy, which is why I wonder if there was a defect and its split along that when it took a knock on the floor.
Looking at the picture halfway down the article, the grain is pretty noticeable which makes me wonder if the growth rings are pretty spread apart which indicates faster growth. I’m not much of a wood worker but from what I know the tighter growth rings are usually an indication of slower growth & stronger wood.
