The tale of the lone poplar (and other trees)

Following my previous post, here is more information on the fate of the lone poplar in the 1911 picture.

This tree continued in its place until the late 1940s or early 1950s, when it was finally cut down. For those interested (hello, Bruce!) here are some pictures of the day it was felled, with thanks to a former resident who has provided a number of pictures for the great Kirby Misperton Archive.

As the village has grown a number of trees have been lost, some more lamented than others. A main feature of the street until recently was a large willow opposite where this poplar stood. It regularly entangled overhead cables and collared passing pedestrian with its lanky tendrils. However, for all its enormous bulk it was no match for the developers, and is no more. In its place we have a petite sapling of indeterminate species which is, to put it politely, failing to thrive at present.

Other developments also took out this rather lovely old ash tree not long ago.

However, just a the residents of Kirby Misperton come and go, so too do the trees. Near where the poplar stood we now have a winter flowering cherry, which is a real treat on gloomy winter days, and a little further along, a beautiful deep purple lilac tree. Time and trees wait for no one.

Then and Now

Some of those who know Kirby Misperton well might say that the village has changed enormously over the last few years. Certainly since the early 1990s it has increased in terms of homes somewhere in the order of 50%. Over half of those new homes have been added in the past 3 years alone.

However, when comparing pictures of the village a hundred years ago, the main difference seems to be that we have discovered colour and electricity poles. The old picture is a postcard from 1911, and the modern photo is one taken in 2004. I'm not sure the potholes in the road aren't the originals - they probably have preservation orders on them.

The nitpickers out there will note, of course, that even since 2004 we have seen the removal of the overhead electricity cables and accompanying pole, so that ironically the view today is closer to the 1911 picture than ever. Such is progress.

The birds are back in town

Well, after all the unbridled excitement following the rooks' visit yesterday, imagine the frenzy this morning when we saw our dear old woodpecker again! And by frenzy, I mean cries of "Where's the camera? Quick! Hurry up!", accompanied by thundering boots racing up and down the stairs.

Anyway, eventually we tracked it down and Himself got a lovely shot of the woodpecker and some goldfinches stuffing their beaks under the ash trees. And here they are. Just look at the goldfinch's wings - drop dead gorgeous, isn't it?

Beautiful day

It has been another beautiful day today, after some drizzly and grey days, making it seem Spring may be around the corner for real.

The bird feeders were also attracting a range of visitors - today's special guests being a pair of rooks.
This evening we were treated to a gorgeous sunset, which I can't do justice to - but here is a rough idea. It was much better in real life, but isn't that always the way?

Snowdrops

It has been a bit busy recently in Kirby Misperton Towers, so I am late in posting this picture of the snowdrops I took a couple of weeks back. But here it is anyway. I love snowdrops; they are the first sign of winter coming to an end, just when you are getting tired of it. So these flowers, and the pesky blackbird waking me up this morning with the first dawn chorus of 2009, make me feel like the whole world is turning over in its sleep and muttering about getting up soon.

It's true - country living is better for you!

Who would have thought it - now they can prove that the city makes your brain hurt!

"Now scientists have begun to examine how the city affects the brain, and the results are chastening. Just being in an urban environment, they have found, impairs our basic mental processes. After spending a few minutes on a crowded city street, the brain is less able to hold things in memory, and suffers from reduced self-control. While it's long been recognized that city life is exhausting -- that's why Picasso left Paris -- this new research suggests that cities actually dull our thinking, sometimes dramatically so."

Pictures of nature can be enough to help us through the tiresomeness of city life - so here are a couple from the garden last summer to contribute to your health and well-being, with all my love.

Freezing February

February got off to a good, cold start with Russian snow roaring across the North Sea to cover a good proportion of the country. Here in North Yorkshire, naturally, we joined in the fun. However, Kirby Misperton is only lightly blanketed - with the mouth-watering promise of heavy snow later today to be cleared by heavy rain tomorrow. Nice.

Anyway, as the school bus couldn't get through, youngest son went out for a walk and took a couple of pictures, which he let me share here.


This is St Laurence Church. I think I have mentioned before that it is built on Saxon foundations, although obviously this building is mostly much newer. At this point we can use terms such as "picturesque" to describe the scene...


Heading out of the village the landscape usually opens up, but today the view is limited to the near distance.

Intermittently it disappeared altogether as another flurry of snow swept in.


Heading back into the village presented a rather bleak picture. You can see how the weather has worsened, as this is just near the church - where the earlier photo showed blue skies.

As I am writing, the view out of the window looks a bit like a television displaying static!

Wherever you are, I hope you are warm and cosy, and if it is snowing, that you can enjoy the view, if not a good snowball fight.