Ash Tree

Friday, 13th September 2002, West Yorkshire

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I was sorry a few weeks ago to see a old ash tree felled at the end of our road. It was too large and growing too near to a house. As the ash tree was there, and thriving, before the house was built this seemed to me to be pretty unfair to the tree.

At the stroke of an axe (a chain-saw actually) our leafy lane was turned into just another collection of house after house. It's amazing what visual impact the loss of that single mature tree has made. Then there's the loss to wildlife; the ash is a native species and throughout this diary there must be a dozen or more observations relating to the birds that once perched in its branches, to say nothing of the less obvious species that went unnoticed by me.

I'm glad to say that this ash tree in my mother-in-law's back garden (left) is thriving , but she would like it lopped back. There used to be two ash trees growing close together here but about 15 years ago one of them blew down in an autumn storm. Luckily it landed neatly diagonally across the lawn. This tree is tall enough catch the house if it was to come down.

quince leaves

Quince Jelly

This quince, the size of a small tomato, has a quilted look, like a pumpkin. Barbara's mum once made quince jelly but says she wouldn't make it again because she didn't like it - she found it bitter - and, besides, she hasn't a convenient place to hang up the jelly bag, to let the juice drip through. One solution is an upturned dining chair, provided that you can find a way of tying the bag on.

Ash Tree

Quince Jelly

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