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By philmcm at 19:32 on 13/10/11

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No, but I was working in various areas of town today and noticed that around 10am. Im half sure as I passed that Ian Cardy was on site.

By Paulweymouth at 21:29 on 13/10/11
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No, but I was working in various areas of town today and noticed that around 10am. Im half sure as I passed that Ian Cardy was on site.

By Paulweymouth at 21:32 on 13/10/11
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Is that by the back end of the graveyard? A whole load have gone from there too

By George Meer at 10:42 on 15/10/11
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No, that was the council making way for a new access road. Or "more room for graves", if you believe their PR department. These trees were all along the river bank, which makes it doubly frustrating to my mind, as it's where a great deal of wildlife would have lived. I can see no reason for their destruction, other than "it looks a bit untidy, let's have the lot down".

By philmcm at 17:53 on 16/10/11
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Anybody got any idea why they were taken down or by who? If Ian Cardy has been there, perhaps Sarah might know?

By sashahes at 10:30 on 17/10/11
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I've been doing some investigating and I rather suspect Wiltshire Wildlife Trust might be at the root of it.

According to their website,

http://tinyurl.com/6khmdp8

"Conigre Mead, one of Wiltshire Wildlife Trust's smallest reserves is getting a new lease of life. Over the next few weeks a project will begin coppicing and pollarding willow trees along the bank of the river Avon .... The works will help to prolong the life of the willows, introduce a traditional method of managing riverside trees and create feeding and nesting sites for a wide range of wildlife."

I have to admit, I completely fail to see how chopping down mature trees to ground level (as seen in my photo above) prolongs their life, but presumably there's method in their madness.

By Phil_McMullen at 12:05 on 18/10/11
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The trees along the river and around the pond have recently been coppiced and pollarded, but not cut down, as a management plan for several reasons: They are 'crack' willow and frequently break off their branches when they get large and heavy. This of course could be dangerous to passers-by; This will let more light into the river so allowing water plants to grow which are good for breeding dragonflies and other water creatures; They have grown very tall and have become difficult to manage by our volunteers. Willows grow quickly and will soon regrow their branches.
The timber from this exercise has been chipped and stacked to provide winter habitat for snakes and other reptiles, insects and mammals which live in the reserve. If you visit the reserve, please do not disturb it, or take it for your own use - the wildlife at the reserve needs it. We are sorry that it looks so bare at the moment - it will soon recover in the Spring.
http://tinyurl.com/7gvcwwe

By ivanlorry at 11:20 on 05/12/11
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We all look forward to seeing some more green life down by the river; my husband used to work for British Waterways and he said a little while ago that those willows had needed pollarding. The timing was a bit unfortunate as all the controversy over Sainsbury's chopping trees down had just happened!

By sashahes at 13:19 on 05/12/11
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It wasn't just the timing, Sasha - it was the fact that the public wasn't informed about what was being done. Notices about the work (similar wording to to what's been written above) were pinned up on gates a week AFTER the trees were cut back, leaving the public - including myself, hence my initial posting on this forum - thinking the worst after all the destruction that had gone before.

By philmcm at 15:30 on 05/12/11
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Ah right, I did not undertsand that!

By sashahes at 16:11 on 05/12/11
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