Execution

Today the death sentence on the grand old tree no 15 was being carried out. It stands, a huge presence, gnarled and bent, over the wall from the Dower House.
It is old enough to have been there when my grandparents were children playing in the Meadows; it has been a shelter from rain for birds and humans, has been the watering stop for neighbourhood dogs, and not a few incontinent youths, but more importantly it was part of the scenery giving hope and tranquility to countless patients through the windows of the old Royal Infirmary.

But today it's stay on death row is at an end, and the tree surgeon is harnessed and swinging impossibly high up from its trunk.
His saw whines and another heavy branch falls to earth to be collected and composted by a noisy grinder. This tree will not go quietly.

It's a sad sight to see such a giant with all it's limbs cut off and reduced to a truckload of sawdust.
I can only hope they finish the job today, and don't leave the bare trunk standing to be demolished later, as has happened with some other condemned trees nearby.
That way there is no dignity left for this old man of the Meadows.

Whatever happens, we will miss the view of its foliage from our windows, and even if a young tree is planted in its place, we will not be around to see it grow into the giant it replaces.

EDIT Well the tree surgeons packed all their equipment away at 2:30 and departed, leaving the poor tree looking like a giant totem pole..
There must be method in all this as there are several in a similar state nearby. Could it be that they need stronger chainsaws to cope with the width of the trunks? Who knows.