It is ten years since the Landscape Partnership Scheme constructed the Tramway walk, and I had responsibility for selecting and planting the bushes alongside it.  This year, finally, I felt it had achieved the vision I had for it, protected from the noise, fumes and distraction of traffic by a pleasing mix of flowering, fruiting and berrying bushes.  All this has been recently destroyed by what appears to be an authorised act of vandalism, not content as sometimes in previous years with slicing off the tops of the shrubs, but repeatedly slashing and sawing even into their stumps.

 The damage is done, but the important thing is to ensure that such a thing is never allowed to happen again.  If left alone, some of the bushes will still recover in a few years, provided they are not subjected to further attack. In the meantime, many folk who used to enjoy walking the path have told me how sad they are now, and that they cannot understand why one of the pleasantest walks on the island has been ravaged in this way. The Bute Conservation Trust has a duty to protect the legacy of the LPS, and I hope they can be trusted to do so more successfully in regard to this walkway in the future.

Angus Hannah |Recorder vice-county 100 (Clyde Isles)|   Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, Scottish Charity SC038675|   21 Ferfadd Court, Rothesay, Isle of Bute, PA20 0HE. Telephone 01700 504023;  mobile 074 710 66637