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| The Pear Tree, Loaded With Fruit in 2011 |
I am sorry to have to report the pointless felling of another of our favourite fruit trees. I was walking over the Cobden Bridge and glanced over to where the new flats are being built, where the boathouse used to be. Someone (I don't know who) had cut back all the vegetation, including the bushes and even whole trees, right down to the river level. None of the rubble or rubbish was removed, only the vegetation!
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| The Denuded Verge by Cobden Bridge 2012 - Note All The Rubble |
The lovely pear tree that we visited during our Pear Pirates expedition last August used to thrive on the verge of the bridge and could be accessed at low tide or (much more fun) by rowing boat at high tide. Last year we collected two large builders buckets full of lovely pears from this tree but there won’t be any this year – all that is now left is a bare and barren stump and lots of debris. We had a fantastic adventure on that day and my children were both disappointed and cross when I told them. When I crack open the first bottle of Perry that was produced from those pears, I will drink a toast to that tree.
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| The Stump, the Rubbish and My Perry is all That Remains |
This is the third such act of fruit tree destruction that I have witnessed in the last year. An apple tree was cut down on the common and another large tree was felled in Chandlers Ford on the roundabout by Asda. This last tree was cut down in its prime, full of fruit and in the autumn; all of the apples (hundreds of kilograms) were needlessly wasted.
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| Assorted Debris and Pear Branches |
The only positive to come from this is that my resolve has been strengthened. I will continue mapping local fruit trees and encouraging other people to use them and also to become involved in campaigning. I think that people who cut down fruit trees should donate several new ones, which can then be replanted in the Lost Orchard of Mansbridge.
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| What a Sad and Sorry Waste! |
Is it really any wonder, that some children have difficulty engaging with food and relating to the natural world, when grown-ups, who should know better, act so carelessly? I'm no Treehugging hippy but I hate the thoughtless destruction and desecration of what little wild and natural habitat we have left in our city.
THat's so sad!! I am passionate about the plants and animals living in these little fruity niches in the city. As well as the tasty fruit we get out of them, these trees are crucial in the survival of many animals and indeed other plants. It's terrible to see them go, and I will do anything to stop the tree-hating imbeciles cutting them down!
ReplyDeleteI was most upset to see this tree go.
ReplyDeleteI had even cleared the ivy from the trunk just the week before the fools cut it down.
I guess everyone has to do the job they are paid to do but I wish there was a bit more consideration when it comes to trees and fruit trees especially.
Alan