Looking at responses to loss and the threat of loss—both the Ash tree and the Poplar tree felt like sites of pilgrimage.
The ash tree grew in the wooded area connected to Woodingdean Memorial Park. The wreath is accompanied by a poem expressing anguish at the death and removal of the tree due to ash dieback. The layer of the wreath spoke to me about how much the tree had meant to her, and was happy for me to share this photograph. She liked to sit nearby and think about her father, who had died the year before.
Shoreham Poplar Front—a local community group— is determined to prevent the felling of a mature poplar tree. It is the last Poplar tree growing on Brighton Road. The campaign began in Autumn 2021. They are now engaged in a peaceful occupation. Hyde Homes and Adur Council plan to fell the tree to make way for a development that includes new homes. Shoreham Poplar Front is not seeking to stop the development—they are asking for the tree to be included in the development’s design. More here https://shorehampoplarfront.com/
Climate Cafes have emerged and evolved over the last 8 years in to facilitated events where people meet to work through their feelings about the climate crisis. I attended one some weeks ago. An approach has stayed with me, as described by one of the attendees—cultivate the ability to hold hope and despair, joy and grief at the same time.
