Storm Ali

There was a very satisfying thump as this big tree fell through the railings and boundary wall to land yards away from the Dower House. The excitement of the event was palpable on a day of ennui because of the weather.

This is the second tree in 5 years to fall next to us. The first one belonged to the estate, but this one on the Meadows comes under the aegis of Edinburgh town council who were quick to chop it up yesterday and erect temporary fencing today to stop the hordes ransacking us at will.

This newly felled tree acted as a handy outside urinal for the beer swilling male summer picknickers in the Meadows, careless of the fact that although they might be shielded by its girth from their friends and passers by, they were in full view of us residents. They will surely miss it as will we. Perhaps an orderly queue will form at the other surviving tree in the near vicinity wide enough to accommodate them and their antisocial habits. Perish the thought that could walk a few hundred yards to the public toilets in Middle Meadow Walk.
Boys will be boys and as my late mother used to say ‘it’s a handy thing to have at a picnic’.

I blipped it from the Meadows side for the extra image and it appears to have had little in the way of sturdy roots to tether it to the ground, but it has left quite a crater