HOW are the mighty fallen...

But don’t worry, the city council hasn’t suddenly decided to take an axe to all the beautiful horse chestnuts that line New Walk.

This photograph was actually taken almost 40 years ago - on October 18, 1980, to be precise. Dutch Elm Disease had arrived in York, and the council was forced to fell 40 mature elm trees along the riverside which had become infected with the fungal disease.

Chopping the great trees down proved difficult. “We have to be careful they don’t fall into the river or across people’s walls and gardens,” a spokesman for the city’s Parks Department said.

Fortunately, other trees which lined New Walk - including plane trees and horse chestnuts - were unaffected by the disease. A tree planting scheme was launched to replace the elms which had been lost, with the result that New Walk today is perhaps as beautiful as ever.

Stephen Lewis