Shangri La

Shangri La sur Somme.

Earthworks have moved to the town square, turning a birds' paradise into something more like the trenches of the first world war.

Generations of sparrows and thrushes nesting in the ancient privet, blackbirds singing in the trees and shrubs were a Spring-time joy. All but a tiny corner of vegetation has been uprooted, I wonder where they will nest this year? The man in charge assured me that the new planting would accommodate them in due course.

I learned what the colour coding of modern piping means - purple for street lighting, orange for traffic lights, green for wi-fi, telephone and cable; and that a major reason for the 'refurbishment' was to replace the ancient storm drains which can no longer cope with the volume of surface water as the climate changes. The cosmetic improvements the sales pitch to persuade the local community to tolerate the disruption required to upgrade the utilities that our modern lives depend upon.

Shangri La - has gone out of business, like a dozen other shops in the development zone. I don't mean this post to be cynical, just truth-telling from the horse's mouth so to speak. I'll maybe take the boss man's pic another day, I had the feeling he'd like that and I enjoyed our little chat, very enlightening.


#am writing
#but also took 100+ photos in the first bright sun we've had for an age