Jean Jaques Rousseaux, Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality 1754:
"The first man to fence off an area and declare it his, was the founder of modern society."
or there abouts.
Viscount Rothermere's grounds are very unusual. The avenue of - I'm guessing - lime trees is impressive. 'It insists upon itself' as my friend would say. I'm also assuming that the collection of symbols writ in trees next door is his too.
As a landscaper by trade this may appeal to me more than it does to most people, but I find this an incredibly strange thing to do. There is no apparent logic or pattern to the space.
Other than perhaps the orientation of the house on the compass, this place is an expression of complete mastery of, and disregard for, nature. It is an expression of domination over the land and all who dwell on it. It is a loud and proud act of self aggrandising violence.
As I snuck through the hedge into the young woodland to the north east of the house I did feel quite confident. It was a bright and sunny day, although the ground was sodden and a small seasonal brook ran through the wood.
It is a mixed deciduous woodland of mostly ash and oak. Over-planted and in a poor state of maintenance. However the northern boundary is lined with old ash trees, maintained to clearly demark it. The main stem of the largest tree was badly infected with die-back, but a lower clump of well pruned lower branches - almost suckers perhaps - was showing no signs of disease.
Although I was tempted by the ease of the cutting I decided I could not harvest this part of the tree - its was trying so hard and doing so well against the fungus. Leaving my bike and searching deeper in I found the perfect tree to poach wood from.
A strange branch, or possibly another younger tree self seeded, growing from the base at the perfect girth for cutting. I strapped the log to my bike pannier and trudged back through the swampy wood to the gap in the big hedge. The very big hedge, very long that is, was the only apparent physical protection the property has. No signs warning "KEEP OUT"; no barbed wire; no walls. Perhaps Viscount Rothermere is so very rich and powerful that he fears no-one. Perhaps he feels so invunerable to the malice of others that he needs no physical protection. His wealth and his standing in society are powerful enough talismans.
Anyway, 'coastal' because Ferne Park is on the border of Dorset - and my friends were holding an art exhibition in Weymouth, to which I took my poachings. The wood was enough to teach 10 people to carve a spoon each, and some left over for me to set up my chopping block outside the exhibition.
Some great stuff on hedges here:
Commenti