February 13th 2010 - Harthill Copse

I have been listening with interest to the on-going debate around Harthill Copse; a saved area of tiny woodland within the allotments in one of my favourite spots, Calderstones Park. I took the top photograph on a frosty New Year's Day earlier this year. This is a rear view of the trees in the Copse - a haven for wildlife and alive with bird song. It was with a saddened heart, therefore, that I wandered past and saw this scene, captured in the second image, this morning. The trees have been cruelly uprooted and the site flattened. A sorry day for our city and bitterly ironic, coming just months after our Year of the Environment.