A walk round the estate.

It looks a lovely area to live in. My son and family also live in Wiltshire (Warminster)

Lovely, Ang,not a house to be seen...it doesn't seem far for you to escape to this 'greenland'...we have a similar situation here living between 2 rivers.
In the lockdown times these areas are so essential. We are so lucky aren't we.

Marj and M'land: yes, we are very lucky. The housing is tucked within this ring of trees and as you see, there is quite a number of large green areas within the buildings too. I think the builders were forced to leave the mature trees intact which makes it very pleasant to walk round. It was a godsend during the first lockdown.

Somebody at last has shown some sense in planning it`s so good to see a mixture of old and new trees, especially liked the old gnarled trunk.

Very nice place to walk, we are fighting here to save our meadows, one has just been saved so now they are encroaching on another, makes one so angry, nothing they are building is affordable to the ordinary working families, then they moan when youngsters move elsewhere...Luckily I live only 5mins walking distance to the countryside so also count myself as lucky....

It feels like a 'smash and grab' attack on green spaces and the countryside to me, now, for all the talk of caring for the environment. Money talks. At least we're a 'brown field' site. Lots of fields being gobbled up not so far away for houses. So sad to see.

It’s a lovely estate, with beautiful trees I love the old tree it kind of looks like two hands forged together, sadly one day those fields will be built on, where I live the amount of farmland that has been ripped up for housing is frightening.

Beautifully landscaped and it looks really lovely. You have some beautiful trees around you which look so natural and yet really well cared for at the same time.

Lovely area - really enjoyed the walk - thank you Ange!

I think I would like to live there, looks idyllic.

Thanks for your comments, all. It's easy to take for granted the good things that Nature provides. Lots of the residents here use the green spaces for running, walking dogs etc. but it's amazing how few of them disengage from their phones while they're doing it. I wonder sometimes how many look upwards. And very few do gardening as such, mostly gravel and ever increasing amounts of artificial grass... And box balls...

Thank you for sharing your stroll round your local area. I would love to see what the actual houses look like, complete with gravel & artificial balls. Would that be possible , or perhaps an intrusion of privacy? Glad you have such a nice rural area on your doorstep.

Feverfew, it's just a typical estate house-wise. There is also quite a lot of natural grass too in front gardens!! Plus a dreary repetition of shrubs like photinia (which I hate), privet hedges and golden choisya (which I also hate). All these, I suspect, plonked in by the builders. There are one or two exceptional front gardens which brim with love, care and colour, but mostly I think, gardening is a long way down most people's interests. Tidiness reigns!
(after this little rant, I'm asking myself why I still live here!!)

Anget, my next door neighbour has no less than 3 Choisya Sundance, in her back garden & 1 at the front. I don't mind the latter being there too much, but both get the chop on my side. I don't want them there but can hardly tell her to get rid! She has 3 green & gold Euonymus type shrubs as well. They look quite nice in the winter sun. She grew up in S Africa so I think she likes bright colours. I think Photinia is quite nice , though I agree with you that it is boring seeing the same shrubs everywhere, as you say, planted by the builders because they are cheap & good doers.

Yes, it's these ubiquitous plants I hate seeing, Fever. The endless repetition seems so lazy. I know not everyone is interested in plants but lots of these shrubs seem so inappropriate for countryside planting. There's no link from these suburban escapees to the beautiful and varied old trees outside. They are just jarring.

Sometimes of course ubiquitous shrubs are inherited. Our ‘new’ house has a Photinia hedge between the front garden and the road. I would never have chosen it (in our last house I put in a mixed hedge) but it serves the purpose of giving us privacy, so there it stays!

I take your point, Sheila. Your garden is lovely. It's just that there has to be other plants too in order to make a garden more personal. Anyway, lots of people love 'Sundance' and photinia. It's each to their own, I know. I read a book just recently that got me thinking. It was about
how, if we're not careful, every garden will look like every other garden regardless of where it's situated, country or town, and I think the variety and 'spirit of place' could be lost, which would be a tremendous shame.

That certainly would be a shame, Angela. I suppose that thought comes from the fact that the plants in the garden centres are much the same wherever you shop. Luckily keen gardeners (like us?!) are usually on the lookout for “something different “ 🙂.

There are some new build houses near where I live & they have all got Photinia hedges at the front!

You have lovely surroundings, it looks a very pleasant place to live :)

Fever: I rest my case!

Thank you, Hywel.

You are indeed very lucky to have all those beautiful old trees surrounding your estate....I do believe the developers are taking more interest these days....the plants they put in....have to be hard working...and mostly evergreen...hence Photinia...Laurel....Choisya etc.....our daughters have changed theirs...
Our garden is a one off, and it always will be....but we do have several Photinia....and Choisya lol😂