An extremely worrying event was brought to VentnorBlog‘s attention last week and Sunday gave the first chance to go to Freshwater to take a closer look at it.
Distraught locals contacted VB when they discovered that the north side of an ancient tree-lined lane – Green Lane, commonly known as Tennyson’s Lane – was being decimated. It turned out that we knew the person who owned the lane.
After seeing it on Sunday, it’s easy to understand why residents had been so concerned. What could be seen was shocking – the area cleared, what appeared to be live trees cut down and many smoldering fires along the length of the lane, where once was a mass of vegetation.
Green Lane previously beautiful
For those who are not familiar with the area, Green Lane is situated just along from St Agnes, the thatched church, running along the boundary of Farringford, Tennyson’s former home, which is now run as an hotel.
Residents of Freshwater told VB that the bank was previously home to Wild Orchids, Iris, Violas, Violets, Wild Snowdrops and Tiny Daffodils and is believed to have had many shrubs planted by Tennyson himself, such as Butcher’s Broom and Laurel.
The owner of the lane has, over the past seven years, been sympathetically removing dead Elm trees which had been struck by Dutch Elm Disease, taking care to maintain and conserve the horticulture of area.
The lane’s owner said that she was “shocked and devastated” by what had happened and had not be consulted about the works being carried out, or was aware that permission had been sought or given by the Isle of Wight Council to carry out the work.
We’ll follow this up and try to get more information.
Before and after photos
In the meantime, below are some of the shots of the lane taken on Sunday, apart from the first image below, which was contributed by a local resident and we understand was taken before the work commenced.
Before shots
How the lane looked before the work was carried out,
as seen on Google Maps
After shots from Sunday
