That Big Storm

I've been doing some 'just in time' pruning in my garden today - such lovely autumn weather. I use the RHS website for guidance as to what to do and when. I have fruit trees plus magnolia and hydrangea and forsythia and a towering fig tree to keep in check plus a Silver Birch which will need professional attention but will need to wait now until next spring. Phew - there's always something! Thinking about trees, I was remembering the articles I read in the press earlier this month as we remembered the night of the Great Storm on  15 October 1987. Can you believe it, 30 years ago now!? I was living in my lovely ground floor garden flat on the tree-lined Brentham Garden Estate in Ealing at the time. I remember like it was yesterday, being awoken from a deep, early hours of the morning sleep by an almighty crash and the sudden cold, sharp and pungent pine smell of forest as the top of a tree smashed through my bedroom window. Luckily it was just the tip that reached into my window. Not so lucky for a car crushed under it, parked just alongside. Nearly 50 trees came down on the estate that night and although there was extensive damage, no-one was hurt. I remember having the next day off work, partly as transport was hugely disrupted and anyway, I had to get my window fixed and wait for 'the council' to shift the tree. A year later the Mayor of Ealing planted a baby oak tree to commemorate that night and the location chosen was by the pavement, right beside my garden. I no longer live on the lovely estate but see the now sturdy oak tree whenever I drive past.  I hope it has deep roots!