In Garston, opposite one, and virtually adjoining another primary school is a site all but totally obscured from vision by an oppressive and decaying prefabricated concrete wall. In parts this wall is crumbling to reveal the armature of rusting steel rods. In places the wall is cracked to the extent that fissures in the structure allow for tantalising glimpses of the secret woodland that lies within – oak saplings, apple trees and hawthorns…
This site is so densely wooded that it is a small deciduous natural forest in an urban landscape. In this part of Garston, homes and primary schools are contained within an area defined by gas works, docks, industrial units, freight train lines, and more recent demolition sites – and a woodland that the local community can’t really see or access…
Cycling up the ridiculously narrow 1/4 mile long footpath, the entire length of the one side the concrete wall, on the other side the high primary school fence, then the equally high fencing of the new housing estate, then the boundary fence of the Matchworks, I emerge on Garston Way – dual carriageway.
Stopping on the railway bridge I get a good view across the woodland…
The good news is, in Chapter 8 Open Environment L.C.C., Schedule 8.1, this naturally wooded site has been selected as a potential Local Nature Reserve and proposed as a new park. Remove the wall, the fencing, and the rubbish… accessible and safe wild nature.