Developments

You may remember last year I talked about the three orchards behind our house and how only one of them was being looked after - an orchard of Conference pears. The other two were a smaller orchard of unkempt trees bearing a variety of different pears and an apple orchard, similarly unkempt, also with a mix of different apple varieties. We wondered aloud why these two orchards were not being looked after, and who owned them. Well, we now have some rumours and speculation, and some destruction.

Click pic to enlarge.

In the above map, the white star represents the approximate location of my house, the blue star marks the uncared-for pear orchard, the yellow star the cared-for pear orchard, the red star is the unkempt apple orchard and the brown star at the bottom of the map is a nuttery - mostly hazelnut trees, similarly overgrown and left to go wild.

Laura and I took one of the dogs for a walk down here the other day after hearing machinery at work over the past couple of weeks. I thought it prudent to take some pics.

Here's Laura and Tigger standing where the nuttery used to be.  It was an overgrown mass of hazelnut trees and brambles, and was a nice protective cover for lots of creatures especially rabbits. 

Now one can see easily the entrances to the rabbit warrens. Tigger was very excited by them and stuck his snout in a couple - but there was no sign of any recent rabbit activity.

Then we walked on to where the pear orchard (blue star on the map) had been. Here is what it now looks like:

At the top end of the field where there is a shallow ditch and some bushes lay the remains of the torn-out pear trees:

I have not been able to find out much about what is planned for these now-open spaces. I had heard rumours from local people that the land owner had applied for planning permission to build on the land (build what, I am not sure, but I would guess houses would be the obvious choice - the nearby access roads from both directions, Appledore Road and Smallhythe Road, would make the site a good place to put little country retreats for the commuter types), but I do know some folks on the Town Council and (I should stress this very strongly) while they were NOT at liberty to tell me what planning applications they HAD seen or heard about, they absolutely HADN'T seen or heard of anything concerning this area of land. (Stressed very strongly there, folks, don't want anyone getting in any bother!) So we were back to the rumours, which then became one about the developer not getting planning permission and deciding to plant wheat instead.

So, whatever the truth is, wheat or buildings, we have no idea at present, but it shall all become clear eventually. The one thing I DO know is that while all this uprooting of trees has been going on, the most newsworthy item in town has apparently been the ongoing saga of Tenterden Town Council and its decision to have its own website rather than use the Chamber of Commerce website, at least if the Kentish Express Tenterden Edition is to be believed. I do believe if the Tenterden reporter actually came to Tenterden once in a while rather than just scanning the forum on the aforementioned Chamber of Commerce website and cutting-and-pasting, he might be able to report on some real issues. Just sayin'.