Aftermath

My next-door neighbours were having one of their Wagnerian rows so I decided to take a walk in the park rather than listen to any more hysterical screaming and smashing crockery. Actually I’m glad I got off my backside anyway because it’s actually rather warm outside, at least in comparison to the last few weeks. It feels more like autumn today rather than the depth of winter.

Although the thaw has cleared almost all the snow from Bute Park, it has thus revealed quite a few signs of damage. Here and there branches have been sheared off by the weight of accumulated snow and ice. In this example two bits have fallen off, but the damage to the tree doesn’t look serious.

Occasionally, though, something much more spectacular has obviously happened. Take a look at this tree, near the riding school, which has been completely destroyed.

The trunk of this one seems to have been cleaved apart by forces pulling in two directions. Half the tree has fallen over the fence to the right and the other half behind the fence to the left. I’m glad nobody was nearby when this happened, but I bet it would have been quite a sight to see a big tree fall apart like this!