Each of us can make a difference, and together accomplish what might seem impossible
Wangari Maathai
Wangari Maathai
Some truly inspiring people and movements who have fought to preserve our trees, woods and forests.
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Click on the photograph for more information Click on the captions for links to videos. Definition of inspiration : something that makes someone want to do something or that gives someone an idea about what to do or create : a force or influence that inspires someone : a person, place, experience, etc., that makes someone want to do or create something : a good idea Source: Merriam - Webster Dictionary |
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Dick Tomlinson our enthusiastic, kind and committed tree officer died at the beginning of September 2018. Dick supported the Tree Charter and encouraged Tottenham Trees in its campaigning for the Charter and raising awareness of the importance of trees in our lives. We will miss him greatly. 
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Dick Tomlinson: Tree Officer for Tottenham
I shall miss Dick hugely - as I am sure a great many other people will too. His death at the end of the summer robbed us of a very special person, who made a big difference to those whom he met and the projects that he worked on.
It was Dick who finally gave me the confidence and support this last summer in Lordship Rec to actually tackle the physical work on growing trees that needed a lot of tlc. He didn't just tell you how to do something, he showed you how, and stayed around unobtrusively until you felt able to do it on your own. He was incredibly strong, and skilled at tackling things like removing and replacing rotten posts and guards around trees - but you never felt he preached or talked down to you. He was hugely enthusiastic, I can remember one instance when he called a group of us tree care volunteers over to marvel at what he termed a 'Phoenix tree'. This was a small young Field Maple that we had mulched and removed strangling bars and straps from a couple of months previously. It had repaid our efforts handsomely, having grown at least half a metre, and looked like an entirely new tree, healthy and happy. Dick was a tireless worker, because he was so passionate about trees and believed so deeply in the work needed to care for them. With the onset of the long hot summer I was struggling to water young trees with a huge heavy hose that I could not move on my own, and had to rely on the kindness of Les the Park Manager to transport. Dick, of course, could manage it all on his own, and, realising the urgency, just came and did a four hour watering session of the fruit trees. Dick, with characteristic clarity of vision and determination, deftly cut through layers of bureaucracy in record time so that within a couple of weeks we had not just one, but two portable hoses that I or other people could use on our own. This transformed the watering process, so that although still immensely time consuming, it was do-able and got done, and I suspect that it was a lifeline for all the young trees. He would never take 'no' for an answer if the issue was one he felt strongly about - I was astonished that a Council officer could be so forthright. He was a complete breath of fresh air, 'inspirational' is an over-used word, but Dick really was the embodiment of that word. Sally Haywill, Lordship Rec |
To such an extent does nature delight and abound in variety that among her trees there is not one plant to be found which is exactly like another; and not only among the plants, but among the boughs, the leaves and the fruits,
you will not find one which is exactly similar to another.
Leonardo da Vinci
