It all has the feeling of the final touches – as if you were decorating and you are doing the final touch-up before hanging the curtains. Here you can see the new bike racks at the north gate, with the new bin ready to mount on the stone pegs beside them. Then behind there is a row of benches, all facing south, with the new beech hedge protecting the SUDS pond. Like at St John’s Primary School, the hedge will have a post and wire fence at its core which will quickly make a child-proof barrier. After last night’s torrential rain, the SUDS pond has some water – we wait to see if that ever drains away.
It can’t be long before the grass is sown – expected to be a rough flowering meadow, rather than a bowling green type. The entrances are looking enticing – come in and enjoy. That might invite rogue traffic (already seen at the back entrance in Hamilton Drive) so work is underway to install removable bollards to ensure the right kind of recreation.
Across the road, a neighbour has had the flowering plum trees in his garden pruned which will invigorate them by allowing light into the centre of the trees. They look wonderful. These trees are a feature up Durham Road too. Tree surgeons used to trim the three similar trees in Treverlen but were never given rein to apply their professional skills to shaping the trees and extending their lives. As a result some of them are now uncomfortably shaped with risks of failure, now they are no longer shielded by the old school. This kind of tree has a relatively short life and needs care. Remember how they looked when St John’s opened in 1926?
