A TREE was cut down recently in Windsor Road, Penarth leaving part of the lower trunk in place temporarily. It was near the Ex-Servicemen's Club.

I understand that the felling was necessitated by the fact that the roots of this tree had played havoc with a section of the pavement.

On the other side of Windsor Road, a few days later, tree surgeons were brought in to prune one of the other street trees, whose branches were creating problems vis a vis the telephone lines.

Trees can be beautiful of course, and form a prime feature of a pleasant environment. In any town or city it is the leafy suburbs which have the edge.

Yet their branches can sometimes block the light and/or interfere with vehicle movement, also creating real hazards when brought down in storms. One might still regret that, say, Plassey Street has lost most of its trees over the years.

To reminisce, I recall when living and working in London and travelling on tubes regularly, I saw an advert on a tube train which caught my eye. It was for the high street banks (less controversial at that time) and the caption was "Our roots are in our branches", playing on the double meaning of "branches".

What amused me even more was when London Transport trumped this caption with one of theirs which stated "Our routes pass your branches" here playing on the double meaning routes/roots.

It is strange that some 50 years later, i still recall this minor incident in the world of advertising on public transport.

Meanwhile, I hope the Vale council will not continue to be as draconian in cutting back vegetation here and here as they appear to have been in the recent past in parks.

Michael O'Neill,

Penarth