Horsingdon is somewhat notable on account of the number of trees which flourish in the gardens of its residents, most of who are rightly proud to share their living space with their arboreous cohabitants (especially if they are of the fruit-bearing capacity). Indeed, many of these trees are protected by preservation orders which the brough has been reluctant to rescind.
And for good reason, it seems: a few years ago a neighbour of mine - a retired City-type who had moved to Horsingdon for short time whilst awaiting the completion of renovations to his country pile somewhere in the Home Counties - had also somehow managed to persuade Horsingdon council to revoke the preservation order on two ancient willow trees in his spacious garden (on account of their ‘spoiling’ the view). In any case, a few days after the trees had been cut down said neighbour appears to to have disappeared suddenly and inexplicably - hasn’t been seen since.
On hearing this tale, those who have moved into the area in recent years have, understandably, discounted as a fanciful local superstition the claim that, at the time of his disappearance, curious tracks were found leading from the stumps of the hewn trees across the otherwise perfectly-mowed lawn of my neighbour toward the interior of his house.
Regardless of such scepticism, no one else in the neighbourhood has since sought to remove any inconvenient arborage from their garden.
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