Rather selfishly I searched on-line for details of the current ash tree disease, chalara, thinking of the mountain ash in my garden. The one where the blackbird sits in the Spring and serenades me. The one that holds all the bird feeders, that has honeysuckle climbing up it. The one I got worried about.
Turns out that the mountain ash, the rowan tree, isn't actually an ash. Or at least not the kind that are in danger. So mine is okay. I said I was selfish.
I remember when Dutch elm disease struck years ago, there are plenty of people who will never have seen an elm tree (and there are still outbreaks which threaten the few that remain) and I wonder now whether the ash will go the same way.
The disease hasn't really reached here, or the west of the UK in general. We are only just below the tree line in any case. But do have a look at the video on how to spot the signs and where to report cases. It would be a shame to lose yet another native species.
