View From The Hill ... Nicholas Lezard
“ I must go down to the sea again , to the sea and the lonely sky …”
The opening line of John Masefield ’ s poem “ Sea Fever ” often occurs to me as I look out of my window , for from it , I can see the sea . When I lived in a basement flat in Dyke Road I couldn ’ t see the sea at all ; in fact , I couldn ’ t even see the street . There is a part of Dyke Road by St Nicholas ’ s where you do get to se the sea , and something about the geography and the layout of the street means that it looks as though the sea is gigher up than you , which much impressed my children when they first came to visit . But now I have moved to the lower slopes of West Hill I have a view of a patch of sea every time I sit at my desk , and this pleases me , although it sometimes acts as a rebuke . Because what I am doing is looking at it , and not walking by it .
Saving our street trees
The residents of Highdown Road and Chanctonbury Road have run a crowdfunding campaign to protect their street trees from the devastation of Dutch elm disease .
Many of our most beautiful trees in Seven Dials are elm trees . In fact , Brighton and Hove is the last bastion of the Elm tree in England , which has been almost wiped out by Dutch Elm disease . Over 95 % of the surviving Elms are in our city but the disease has caught hold here too and the local population is dying . You may notice the dead stumps when you walk around , outside ( the big ) Co-op on Old Shoreham Road or along Crocodile Walk for example .
However , there is a proven inoculation . It has to be applied every year in springtime
I wonder if this is means I have turned into a true Brightonian . When I lived on Dyke Road I only rarely went to the sea , because I lived at the very summit of West Hill and walking down to the shore meant a long uphill climb back home , and hills and I don ’ t get on very well . So now I live much nearer the Channel , do I go down to visit it every day ? After all , living by the sea is a privilege . People go daffy trying to buy properties near the sea . ( Well , ok , maybe not all places by the sea are desirable . I have a friend who lives in Southend and , believe me , you don ’ t even want to go there , let alone buy somewhere there .) But I don ’ t go down to the sea , to the lonely sea and the sky . I just look at it and admire its changing moods from afar . It ’ s never dull , even when it ’ s flat , as it is now ( and blue : it ’ s a sunny day ).
It makes me think of the place I lived in
at a cost of under £ 50 per tree ( including application and VAT ). Unfortunately the Council doesn ’ t have the funds to inoculate all 35,000 trees in Brighton and Hove . So working with the Council , we tried a new approach for the trees on Highdown Road and Chanctonbury Road . We ran a campaign to crowdfund the money needed from local residents . The response was overwhelming and in May all 20 trees were inoculated with some funds to spare for next year .
The picture shows one of the tree surgeons from Bartletts Tree Experts inoculating a tree which takes minutes with minimal disruption .
We would like to thank Councillor Kerry Pickett and Rev Martin Poole at St Luke ’ s without whose fantastic support this wouldn ’ t have happened , and of course Bartletts Tree
in London for ten years : because my flat , and the house it was in , was a shambles , it was the last affordable place in Central London . And all of London ’ s galleries and museums were within walking distance . Did I walk to them ? No ? Did I even take public transport to them ? Also no . Because I knew I could walk there whenever I wanted , I felt no pressure to go there . And so it is with the seaside : it ’ s for visitors . And I wonder also if the view I have of a patch of sea , and only that , rem , inds me of my childhood , when we knew that the real holiday was beginning : when we could see , through a gap in the trees , the twinkling blue of the Cornish Atlantic . And on blustery , bright sunny days the sea , from my window , looks just the same as it did from my dad ’ s Vauxhall when I was 10 . It ’ s close enough . Besides , it ’ s full of poo these days .
Experts who did the work .
If you are interested in saving the elm trees on your street and want to get involved please contact Hugh Kenyon at Hughkenyonggl @ gmail . com