...... the project begins.....

After over a year of preparation, and with the pull of a chainsaw chord, we slowly begin the process of building our new homes.

The first step is to tidy up trees that have had no attention for over half a century and this inevitably means felling a number of them. Our bungalow will overlap with an area of sycamore and sweet chestnut and sadly these will have to be removed. Here we see three of our tree team getting started.

But the work will also benefit those trees left behind, giving them better access to light, nutrients and water - and so they should grow more healthily and happily.

Thin branches are being 'chipped' and this will become a valuable mulch material conserving water in the soil with a thick organic blanket. Thicker logs are being cut into short lengths as a source of fuel or being left as longer lengths - possibly for splitting lengthways and used as edging for our raised vegetable beds.

 Tree work will last two weeks and during this time we hope that the specifications for ground clearance and construction of the raft foundations will be completed and ready to send to possible contractors for tendering.

But I won't just be a spectator. I have tree work of my own to do, working down the lines of silver birch that have seeded and flourished in the former gaps between the old mushroom sheds. The trees are lovely but unstable and would fall once the concrete shed bases were lifted and crushed. Each tree needs felling and trunks logging. Branches need removing and then dragging down to the chipping machine before being fed through the machine.

For the family album we have a photo of the view down what will be the garden. Trees on the left will be cleared or thinned out, dead branches will be 'cleaned' from the trees giving better shape and disease resistance.

One day there will be views of the elegant beech on the left and a stately sycamore marking the end of the garden as a backstop.