Uxbridge Rd Tree Planted - and Promptly Vandalised

Local residents' campaign to Fix The Uxbridge Road has had something of a setback as one of the new trees on the Uxbridge Rd has been vandalised.

The campaign to Fix The Uxbridge Road has been working with our local council the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham to take action to improve our local street scene.  One of the few tangible results of that campaign has been the planting of new trees. 

Unfortunately (and not for the first time) one of the newly planted trees has been destroyed.  

Our council will no doubt be back, most likely in the next tree planting season, to replace it. But this summer a broken tree on the Uxbridge will be a melancholy reminder that the campaign to Fix The Uxbridge Road will be a long one, likely with many setbacks. 

New Trees Planted on Uxbridge Road

Local residents' campaign to Clean Up The Uxbridge Road appears to have scored a small victory in the form of new trees being planted along The Uxbridge Road. 

The campaign has been working with our local council the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham to take action to improve our local street scene. 

Uxbridge Road has long felt neglected; just walking up the street can feel like an obstacle course, dodging rubbish, panhandlers, and graffiti-covered phone booths. 

Cherry Blossom in the Bush

Blossom in the Bush

Some years ago I lived for a time in Japan, and experienced the annual festival of Hanami, the Japanese celebration of Cherry blossom.  

The citizens of Tokyo gather every year in the gardens of the Imperial Palace to experience the blossom filtering the sunlight and gently falling on the grass. 

We may not have any palaces in Shepherd's Bush, but we have many cherry trees, and at this time of year our streets become a riot of white and pink blossom, as the cherry trees come into bloom. 

Ash Dieback Comes to Shepherd's Bush

Ash dieback on Shepherd's Bush Green. There is no cure

Hymenoscyphus fraxineus (that's Ash Dieback to you and me) has come to Shepherd's Bush. Pity poor neglected Shepherd's Bush Green, as its mighty ash trees are turned into firewood.

The trees that line the edges of the park are London plane trees - a kind of super-hardy sycamore, a variety that seems to tolerate all the pollution we can throw at them.

But the ash trees aren't so lucky, and our benighted green will be all the poorer without them.

Cherry Blossom Comes to Shepherd's Bush! --- Thanks to Our Local Council, and Councillors

Could Shepherd's Bush look like this? Photo: Wikipedia

National politics can be a frustrating business; your individual vote doesn't count for much and nothing really ever seems to change.  But locally, it is possible to make a difference.  Recently our Residents' Association won a small victory when we managed to persuade the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to plant some new cherry trees in our street.  A small thing, you might think, but flowering Prunus Pandora will greatly brighten up our corner of the Bush, especially in Spring.