The Future of Cherry Blossom Park (Part 2)

"I'd like to take action based upon the findings of the Housing Survey," said Bill Waddlington, deputy mayor of Mellowdene. "We want more houses in the village itself rather than expanding at the edges. The vast majority opted for homes like those in Cherry Blossom Avenue. They liked the style and everything those fine homes provided."

"I see," said Ben. "Rowan Ivory was the architect and I have to say that his plans were particularly clever transforming what was a difficult landscape into the Avenue. It's true that the houses have been very much admired."

"Yes. And that's why we'd like to extend the avenue."

Ben frowned. "Extend it? There isn't room to do that."

"I have every confidence you'll find a way."

"There are currently twenty houses. Even one extra house would block the road at the river side."

"Couldn't you bend it back on itself? There's some land there, I believe."

"The rock gardens? All those varieties of heather?" Ben stared at the deputy mayor. "Even if we were prepared to destroy that, we'd need to demolish number nineteen to properly extend the avenue back on itself. And they wouldn't have Cherry Blossom Avenue addresses as the new homes would be adjacent to Stonecrop Lane."

"Hmm. Good point. It would be better to extend the Avenue at the other end."

"Cherry Blossom Park? We couldn't do that."

"Of course you could. We have some excellent landscape gardeners in the village. The Park could be relocated. The new houses could replace the old Park site. We might need to renumber the existing house addresses..."

Ben shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mister Deputy Mayor, but that isn't the kind of work that Henry-Lloyd Construction does."

Bill Waddlington raised his brow, fidgeted with his medallion of office and paused to think. "That's disappointing. We wanted the same care of design. That was paramount. I didn't want to approach companies outside Mellowdene. They might be able to copy the style but it wouldn't be what we want."

"Cherry Blossom Park is too important. It is an oasis for meditation. No matter who you contracted to do the work I don't believe Mellowdenians would agree to its destruction."

"Movement, not destruction."

"It amounts to the same thing. We couldn't be part of that."

"Well, I'd like you to go away and reconsider. Failing that, come up with an alternative for houses as beautiful as those on Cherry Blossom Avenue."

o 0 O 0 o

"And that was the end of the meeting," said Ben. "I discussed all this with my father and with Hector Corntop and the consensus was we needed someone with the inspiration of Rowan Ivory. The concept of using the rough land alongside The Wedge, adapting the houses accordingly, was all your brother's idea, Cecile. We need another good idea."

I couldn't keep silent. "I can't believe Bill Waddlington would even consider threatening Cherry Blossom Park. Or the Rock Garden, come to think of it. And the Park is used for so many who go there to enjoy the silence and think of those who have passed."

"I know," said Ben. "As a mayor, Ramsey Nettlefield does a good job for Mellowdene despite his minor faults. We tolerate his over ambitious schemes because we know they rarely get anywhere - but he would never..." He gave a long sigh. "The funny thing is I considered Bill Waddlington to be an efficient chap and a great addition to the council. He has proved to be a benefit to the village's administration -  but I didn't think that efficiency would make him so cold and dismissive."

The door opened and in came Rowan, Hector Corntop in his wake.

"Eliza let us in. Hector's been telling me about that numpty, Bill Waddlington."

o 0 O 0 o

The discussion was quite intense. I could tell Rowan was annoyed by the way he was walking about during the chat. Everyone agreed that Cherry Blossom Park must remain untouched. No one liked the idea of touching the Rock Garden either.

"What about continuing Cherry Blossom Avenue at the other side of the park?" suggested Hector. "Call it Cherry Blossom Close or something like that?"

"It would mean getting the allotment holders to move," said Ben.

"If the Park was relocated, you'd have the same issue," said Rowan, "unless there were four, or at most six new houses. How many homes did Waddlington want?"

"He didn't get far enough to tell me. Our meeting went downhill as soon as Cherry Blossom Park became an issue."

Cecile stood. "Wait a minute. Did Bill definitely say he was fixed upon extending Cherry Blossom Avenue, or did he just want something to the same quality?"

Ben considered. "He started by saying he wanted to extend the avenue, but when I left he said 'houses as beautiful as' the avenue."

"Perhaps we could push the latter," said Cecile.

"He'd want something in the village rather than at the outskirts," said Ben, "so we'd need to find a suitable location. Any ideas, Hector?"

"Nothing obvious," said Hector Corntop who then turned to Rowan. "How about you, Rowan? Can you think of anywhere where your design skills would fit?"

"Me?" said Rowan. "I've not done any architectural design for years and you've been doing it all the time I've been away. These days you've got more experience than me."

"Not your flair though, mate. And you know as well as me that your tricksy mind lets you think laterally. It appears as though Bill Waddlington might be swayed by your design skills. Divert his attention from Cherry Tree Park."

"We'd be grateful," said Ben.

"It sounds as though the whole village would be grateful," I added.

"Well..." Rowan regarded both of his former workmates in turn. "I could have a look."

o 0 O 0 o

The following day, Cecile was busy on the telephone so I left her to it and went to make a sandwich. She subsequently called me back into the room, a smile on her face.

"A couple of things. Firstly, Rowan has taken a job at Henry-Lloyd Construction. Temporary for now, but who knows? He's looking into finding somewhere for a dozen houses that he will design."

"That's good. Has Ben informed Bill Waddlington?"

"That's the second thing. You and I - plus a couple of others - have been invited to see Bill later today. We will find out what's happening about the whole Cherry Blossom Park thing."

o 0 O 0 o

When we arrived at Bill Waddlington's office, Ben Henry-Lloyd was there but also - surprisingly - so was Cecile's cousin Coltsfoot Ivory. He and the deputy mayor were laughing and they stopped when we entered.

"Hi Cess," said Colt. "Good news, eh?"

He saw my confusion and added, "Rowan back working as an architect, Jack. Good news."

Bill Waddlington laughed. "The plan worked," he said, which confused me even more.

Ben explained. "I was in the dark too. It appears Cecile and Colt conspired with our deputy mayor to con Rowan to resume his calling as an architect."

Colt nodded. "I agreed with Cess that Rowan needed to do this. Flitting about with part time jobs could only last so long. He needs stability both for himself and his family. I've seen his work for the Henry-Lloyds and - with my engineer hat on - I can say his aptitude is tremendous. I can't abide waste."

"And we owed him a prank," said Cecile. "Incidental to the matter in hand, but we did."

Everything was beginning to make sense. Cecile had expressed her concerns about her brother's ephemeral employment. Was this all one big prank to help settle Rowan Ivory? I asked the deputy mayor.

"The Cherry Blossom Park thing?" said Bill. "Never going to happen. I was talking to my old friend Colt about the need for high quality housing and he told me about Rowan and how he had designed his house. How he had abandoned his job years ago and how he might need a push to get back. Colt brought in your good lady wife and we formulated a plan."

"Our meeting was apparently one big act," said Ben.

"It was fun pretending to be horrible," said Bill.

"I'm still not sure why I wasn't brought in on this," Ben mused.

"You had to be convincing in order to get Rowan all fired up," said Cecile. "I know my brother."

"And me, Cess?" I said. "Why didn't you let me know?"

"Ah, my love, I love seeing the sense of confusion on your darling face."

"At least you weren't called a numpty," said Bill.

I guess I will have to be content at that.

o 0 O 0 o

The Future of Cherry Blossom Park (Part 1)

I was working on our latest songwriting project when I heard someone at the front door. Cecile called to say that she would go and see who it was. A few minutes later she brought the visitor into the room. It was Ben Henry-Lloyd. I rose to greet him.

"Ben. Great to see you!" I began before moving the conversation on to overdue pleasantries.

When I worked for his father - Willard - at Henry-Lloyd Construction, Ben was reaching the end of a long apprenticeship. Willard wanted his son to have practical experience in all aspects of the business, not only to understand that business and gain numerous skills, but also to appreciate the expertise and the day-to-day issues his employees faced. Part of that time was spent working alongside me in the office. Now that Ben is in charge of Henry-Lloyds, he maintains the high standards of the family business.

"You're right," Ben was saying, "We need to socialise more. You've done well with your songwriting since you left the company. I confess, we didn't fully understand your reasons at the time, but here you are now - writing for Lionel Grand and others, doing that musical... Great stuff." He paused. "Anyway, you're probably wondering why I'm here."

Cecile provided the reason. "He's trying to track down Rowan."

Ben nodded. "That's right. I called at his house and Angelica said he was working part time at Mellowdene Van Hire. I went there to speak to one of the Truffles and Eustace Barrington said Rowan was helping out in the garage. I went next door and Murphy Van Dyke said that he'd left for the day but he'd said he'd be calling at his sister's. So here I am."

"I told Ben that he's not been here yet," Cecile added as we took our seats..

Rowan left his job as an architect with Henry-Lloyd Construction some time ago in order to go traveling. He went missing for ten years before unexpectedly returning to Mellowdene, complete with wife and children. (I've covered that in previous tales.) Rather than returning to his previous career he has taken a sequence of short-term jobs in an assortment of fields. We explained this to ourselves as the remnants of his desire to have variety in his life. Fair enough, but he was a brilliant architect.

Ben sighed. "Whilst I'm waiting, I may as well tell you. You worked for us, and then you've had a long while not working for us. Maybe you can offer a balanced opinion."

"If I can," I replied.

"I need to speak with Rowan about the work he did designing Cherry Blossom Avenue," said Ben. "The company is faced with a problem."

o 0 O 0 o

Before I go any further I think it would be advantageous to give you an overview of the local geography. This will help you understand the positioning of Cherry Blossom Avenue in relation to other landmarks and more familiar locations.

My home - Butterglove House - has an address of number one, Dandelion Lane. (This is marked with a red circle in the partial map below.) If you come out of our front gate and turn left, you would soon reach a junction. A right turn takes you onto East Dock Lane which would take you past my favourite snack bar (marked 11) and on towards the dockyards and the river. East Dock Lane then veers left and changes its name to Yew Road. If, on the other paw, you should take a left turn out of Dandelion Lane, you would find yourself on a curving lane where you will find the residence of Horatio Seadog. This lane is called Bluebell Row and it, like Yew Road, both terminate at a long thoroughfare called Wedge Road, so called because it runs towards and alongside a significant geological feature called The Wedge.

How to describe The Wedge? Well, from what I recall of my school lessons, we have to go back to the beginnings of Sylvania. When the land was settling, denser rocks didn't settle as much. The Wedge was of those geological features that remained higher than the adjacent landscape and it is appropriately named. It rises steeply as it progresses southwest towards the river to the height of four or five critters and then levels off until it reaches the end. At that point some people might then refer to it as a small cliff looming above Wedge Road, but that sounds over dramatic to me. Granted, it looks a bit like a tall wall when one emerges from Yew Road but we are used to it. It can look quite majestic when the evening sun catches the variety of minerals embedded within. 

A number of years ago a group of Mellowdenians decided to take advantage of its height and arrange to build a house up there. It was a marvellous vantage point for looking down river. An access road was built which had to snake back and forth to make the gradient more manageable and this road became known as Wedgewynde. It led all the way to the end - a promontory overlooking the river - and it was there that the large house was built. Riverview Point. This is now the holiday home of Lionel Grand. (Marked 18.)

 

The elevation at other side of The Wedge was originally not as stark. It didn't appear quite as cliff-like. It was more akin to a collection of rocks and boulders that diminished in size as one moved south east.

Over the years, these rocks were plundered for building materials. Eventually it was decided to clear the remaining boulders away and it was noticed that the rock flats beneath would make excellent foundations for new homes. Nevertheless it would take a skilled architect to realise this and design homes to fit into that landscape.

Fortunately, Henry-Lloyd Construction employed an innovative architect called Burdock Rowan Ivory.

The cleared land extended from a large grove of cherry blossom trees all the way to the coastal road and the end of The Wedge where, high above, Riverview Point sat alone. During the planning of the homes that would become Cherry Blossom Avenue, there was a decision to carve some steps to provide additional access to the top of the Wedge. The comparative isolation of Riverview Point meant the house wasn't as attractive to families and there were periods where it was left unoccupied. The steps could help. Since Lionel Grand bought Riverview Point there have been ambitious discussions about adding an elevator platform to provide even more access.

Rowan designed each house differently because of the random nature of the land beneath. This appealed to his sense of creativity and he gave many of the houses different features. However, he wanted to ensure that the different designs didn't clash in appearance. On the contrary - he intended that their differences should give a sense of harmony.

Although the designs were completed, Rowan didn't remain to see the Avenue built. He had long desired to go "adventuring" and left Mellowdene as the contractors were assembling. Henry-Lloyd Construction oversaw the work by trusted construction companies brought in from outside the village. Rowan, of course, didn't return until ten years or so had passed.

By this time, Cherry Blossom Avenue was well established and considered to be greatly desired high-end properties. I think the term "all mod cons" is the vernacular. Rowan's artistry was admired, although many were unaware of the identity of the architect. I didn't know until comparatively recently.

I should mention, although I hope it is obvious, that the Avenue was named because of the grove of cherry blossom trees nearby. The grove was already enjoyed as a place to go and meditate and be at one with nature. Some tasteful paving and seating areas were added and the grove became known as Cherry Blossom Park. To solidify the connection between the Avenue and the Park, additional trees were planted, spaced along the Avenue.

o 0 O 0 o

The problem, as Ben described it, was triggered by the growing population in Mellowdene. Within the village itself, new houses had to fit in with the "feel" of the existing structures. Beyond the village, new homes tend to be more rustic. The Waters Brothers were capable of quickly erecting sturdy log cabins that fit in with the landscape but they were rarely called upon to build within the village itself.

Some months ago, the council had surveyed the villagers to find out what they wanted from new houses. Our mayor, Ramsey Nettlefield, had delegated the job of analysing the results to his deputy, Bill Waddlington. As a consequence, Bill wanted to meet with someone from Henry-Lloyd Construction and Ben went along.

He informed us that the meeting concerned Cherry Blossom Avenue.

It didn't go well.

o 0 O 0 o

(To be continued)