Looking south from Shorton Lane, Ribchester towards Osbaldeston Hall. The remnants of a hedgerow that was shown on the 1888 Ordnance Survey map and was probably hundreds of years old on the left. The fact that it was curved and not straight suggested that it was very old indeed.
WHITETHROATS, FRESH FROM THEIR TRANS-SAHARAN SPRING MIGRATION SANG HERE. Song Thrushes fed on the numerous snails in the shadows below. Blackbirds were joined by winter thrushes from Fennoscandia, Redwings and Fieldfares, to feed on hawthorn berries in the autumn. Hares sought refuge in it before the grass of the meadows grew in spring. Now it lies piled in a heap, the heart being ripped out of the countryside. For what?
Under the plough less than a week later, all trace of the hedgerow has been erased, gone forever.