One of the less appreciated aspects of railway lines is that they have been extremely useful at preserving habitats for trees. Look at any Google images for railways lines and you often don’t see the line at all, just the tops of trees !

On my journey to Winchester this week I was struck by the number of dead and dying trees I saw. Sadly, it is almost always down to Ash Dieback, a very nasty disease that is devastating the species in the same way that Dutch Elm disease did many years ago.

I suppose it is in the nature of things that disease resistant elm trees will emerge, either by natural selection or hastily prompted by human intervention, selective propagation.

It is estimated that Hampshire County Council has had to spend £1.8 million on removing Ash trees affected by this fungal infection in a recent three year period. I assume Network Rail have incurred similar costs.