Carol-Anne O’Callaghan, a former teacher from Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, has fought hard to protect ancient oaks near her home, which she says are home to rare bats.
In February 2021, O’Callaghan was walking her dogs when she spotted yellow dots stuck on some of the 99 oak trees in a narrow country lane close to her home. The dots indicated trees marked for destruction. After she learned the trees would be felled as part of the HS2 high-speed railway works, she called the HS2 helpline and was told there was nothing that could be done as an over-road would be built. She gets choked up remembering the moment she realized many of them were to be cut down.
O’Callaghan loves that ancient line of oaks. They were planted in the 19th century. “My family and I would picnic under them,” she says, “climb them, have rope swings on them. The trees are amazing and beautiful and meant so much.” One of the last photos of her mother, taken shortly before she died, was of her sitting in a swing in their branches.
She noticed that on the other side of the lane, to the north, there were no ancient oaks. So she began campaigning to save the trees. With the help of her daughter, Blaize, she started a petition(请愿书), which went on to get nearly 43,000 signatures. “I saw someone passionate about giving a voice to those who don’t have one, someone not afraid of asking questions and calling out large, daunting businesses for doing the wrong thing,” says her neighbour Victoria.
Buckinghamshire Council has got involved, and the felling is paused. A final decision has yet to be made about the proposed over-road. “We’re optimistic that they’ll hear our argument and take the ecology of the lane into account,” says O’Callaghan. “We want them to put in a green crossing in the gaps between trees, for the bats, and we’d like the place to become a conservation area. For the trees and the bats—this is what we are fighting for!”
【小题1】What did the yellow dots on the oaks indicate?| A．These oaks would be cut down. | B．The narrow lane would be widened. |
| C．Rare bats would get protected. | D．A railway station would be built. |
| A．Due to the oaks’ long history. | B．Due to the natural beauty. |
| C．Due to the precious memories. | D．Due to the diverse wildlife. |
| A．Creative. | B．Humorous. | C．Generous. | D．Enthusiastic. |
| A．The ecology is being improved. |
| B．The felling has been put off. |
| C．The Council canceled the proposal. |
| D．The area becomes a reserve. |
