O Ashmead Tree,
O Ashmead Tree,
What happened to thee
O Ashmead Tree?
‘Tis the season to be jolly. That is until we got the sad news last week that another tree within St John’s has been lost. Again, needlessly to carelessness and reckless driving. Above is the scene from Ashmead Road yesterday where this mature Prunus cerasifera (cherry plum) tree was lost when it was struck by an HGV, the driver clearly unaware of their surroundings and their vehicle. The incident has been reported, and Lewisham Trees team were on site to inspect within hours.
It caps off a year that has seen a few street trees meet their early end and suffer severe damage. In April, this tree (another Prunus) on Albyn Road had some branches torn off by careless manoeuvring of a scaffolding lorry. We’re now keeping an eye on this tree as the loss of these branches looks to have caused it some shock. We hoping it can recover.
Then a few months later, almost directly opposite, a street tree was taken down by contractors. When we spoke to them, they assured us that the tree had been assessed and was confirmed as dying, but we really would love Lewisham to be forthcoming with plans for pruning and felling of trees. A little more communication would go a long way!
Then in August and in quite dramatic fashion, a car careered off Brookmill Road at speed into the roundabout outside the pub. One of the WW1 commemorative trees that SJS funded and arranged to be planted back in 2018 was severed at the base and the bike hangar dented and damaged. You have to think, however that it could have been much worse! Luckily no-one was walking there at the time.
But, given it’s Christmas we should finish on a more jolly, hopeful and upbeat note. We have seen a huge number of new street trees planted in the past year, with more to come. March saw seven new trees in and around St Stephens School, then in November three went in on the corner of Albyn Road and Strickland Street and a new sapling on Ashmead Road. However, we must continue to care for and watch out for our mature trees, as an article published here back in August illustrated the various threats our trees face.
We look forward to updating you soon on some really exciting news for trees in and around St Johns.
