Looky here at the handle material I found!

[carrmillus]

....haven't been downtown in quite a while , but there was a chestnut tree just off of main st. near the downtown area in a backyard, it wasn't very big, probably about 25 ft. tall.......i'll look next time I'm in the big city!!!............... ...................

It’s probably a Chinese chestnut. There are several of those around. I used to love the nuts, but I haven’t had any in a while. The Chinese Chestnut trees are immune to the blight.

....back in the '70's when I was still working, we had a secretary who lived WAY out in the country, and every year she would bring bags of nuts for us, and man, were they good!!!!................. .........................

[kootenay joe]

I planted 3 Chestnut trees here on my property in south central B.C. Two i planted about 37 years ago and one about 20 years ago. One is supposed to be American Chestnut and 2 American x Chinese Chestnuts. They are growing well. One of them is already a BIG tree. I get quite a few very good edible Chestnuts every Fall. The sharp spiky outer coat keeps the squirrels from getting them
I also have about 7 walnut trees but the squirrels take 90% of the nuts and most years i cannot find where they have stashed them.
kj

I’d love to see pics of those trees!!!

I have just left my rural property for my house in 'town'. I will take pics when i go back in about 2 weeks time ? Springtime when they blossom would also be a good time to take pictures.
The biggest tree was 'hit' with a sudden very cold snap in November when it had been in the ground for about 4-5 years. The sap was still in the trunk and it froze and in Spring only the bottom about 3" above soil was still alive. But it sent up a new leader shoot and over the next ~ 35 years it has become my best Castanea tree. It lives right next to a huge old Cedar tree so they must like each other.
kj