Trees being cut down

One day a letter came through the letterbox telling us that our neighbours wanted us to cut down the trees in our garden. Apparently, the trees were causing subsidence. Of course, we really didn't want them cut down, but in the end it became clear that they had to be.

A few weeks ago, two guys came to cut down the four biggest trees in our garden, the ones that were causing the subsidence. One of them was already dead, but the other three were still alive, and I was sad to see them go. They've been around for about twenty years, way before we moved here, and way before I was born, so as long as I can remember, they've been around. Every time we sat in in the garden, they were there, and I've climbed them loads of times, really high when I was younger and less heavy. My dad even put a rope ladder on one of them, and attached wooden blocks onto one to make it easier for me to climb. There was a also a trapeze on one, and a tire swing joining two of the trees, and I know lots of tricks on all the equipment. The silver birch used to have a vine on it that I swung on sometimes, but it either got cut down or came down naturally a few years back.

It took surprisingly little time for the two guys to cut down the trees. One of them climbed really high with a harness attached to him and cut off all the branches, while the other guy shredded them in a machine. After all the branches had been taken off the tree, one of the men held on to a rope tied round the trunk, and the other made a gap in the trunk. After three the first man yanked the rope and the tree came crashing down. Obviously, we all had to stand at a distance, not just for the last part, but all through, in case any branches crashed down onto us, and also because they didn't want to risk hurting us with their equipment.

The next day the men who cut down the trees came by to shred down the stumps.

Here are some pictures: