If you go down to the woods today you could be in for a big surprise. I was.
A recent walk along Ham Gate Avenue alerted me to work being done on the trees but I thought that was just a little trimming but walking along Ham Gate Avenue again a few days later I caught signs of the work being done in the heart of the woods and went inside to have a closer look.
What I saw was a lot of open space where once there had been trees and bushes.
The ground was littered with evidence of the recent damage, there were severed tree-trunks, sawn branches and wood chippings.
The narrow strip of mud on the left is the path. Walking along here used to give me the childish pleasure of exploring unseen in dense woodland, the sort of thing Rupert the Bear did. Now the path is exposed and the woodland is bare. The temptation to walk through these "woods" has gone.
Something to do with this:
ReplyDeletehttps://consultation.richmond.gov.uk/community-engagement/woodlands-management-plan-consultation/supporting_documents/Ham%20Common%20Woods.pdf
All wood land in the UK is managed in some way and due to the elimination of the various animals which used to inhabit the woods and the introduction of plants which should not be there, exist out of equilibrium with the natural order, so need to be managed in some way. That said I'm not qualified to say weather or not they have done a good job on Ham common.