If you go down to the woods today...

If you go down (or up) to the woods around Bingley St Ives today, you're in for a big surprise. The authorities are once again having to fell huge areas of trees and shrubs because of a fungal disease called Phytophthora ramorum, which mainly affects larch and sweet chestnut trees and which is harboured by rhododendrons. (See HERE) It devastated the eastern side of the estate some years ago and has now affected the western side. It is vastly changing the outlook. You can perhaps see the difference from the photo above (recent) and the photo below, which was taken (albeit in a different season) about eight years ago. Now, the tree cover is much thinner and you can see the view over the Harden valley

I think it's not all bad news because the views are glorious, and in time they will replant the woodland with native deciduous trees that are less prone to disease. It will take a while for it to mature but in the meantime the terrain more closely resembles what it looked like when the mansion house on the estate was lived in by the Ferrand family in the mid to late 1800s. Lady Blantyre's rock (below) commemorates the Dowager Lady Blantyre, Mr Ferrand's mother-in-law, who regularly took her book to this spot to read and enjoy the view.  For as long as I can remember there has been no view, as the forest had grown to obscure it. Now, once again, the view can be enjoyed. I might take a book up there myself!