A field of tents beyond the row of elms in Pontcanna Fields
The 100 disease-resistant elms, Ulmus ‘New Horizon’, in Pontcanna Fields saw a different background in early June, as soccer’s European Champions League final came to Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.
In the game on June 3 Real Madrid beat Juventus by four goals to one, which was a bit disappointing and one-sided after all the build-up.
The whole city was affected and in expectation of a huge number of visitors a special campsite was set up in the fields, right beside the elm trees.
So of course I went to explore a few days before the match.
The campsite was well sign-posted – gwersyll is Welsh for ‘camp’
The site was run by a company called Ninja
Looking along the avenue to the east
Looking along the avenue to the west
The pair in high-vis yellow jackets are police officers
These were Neighbourhood Services Enforcement officers, enjoying the sun – beyond them are the floodlights of Sophia Gardens, where international cricket is being played at the moment, and beyond that the triangular roof supports of the Millennium Stadium
But I was here to see the trees!
The elms are now in their full green finery
The shape of a single tree
The wind was from the south-east, which is unusual, so the leaves were showing their veined backs
This leaf seems to have been curled by an insect…
…and something has been nibbling these leaves into holes
This little leaf growing from the trunk was the size of my thumbnail
New stems…
…and old stems – I’m not sure if those brown lumps are anything special?
A dry fruit (samara) hanging on…
…and a fallen fruit among the dry grass
There were lots of other things in the grass all around…
A Coke can
A Pepsi bottle
A Lego brick
Buttercups
Daisies
A dandelion
Clover
One of many gulls in the fields
Lichen on an elm trunk
Damaged bark
Hopefully the fence won’t do any more damage to the elms
An eye
I was intrigued by these lamps around the campsite, which were lit up with very red dots, which don’t show up as vividly in this picture – were they to keep insects away?
A last look towards Blackweir Bridge…
…and long shadows as I headed back to the streets
The sports-field changing rooms have been decorated with this mural for a long time…
…but I hadn’t noticed this tree mural all along one side before
Hopefully the tents have now disappeared without a trace – see you again next month…
Find out more about the 100 elms here.
Please do share your own tree news in this month’s link box, here.
Or find out more about tree following here.
The Squirrelbasket 
I love the light and shade of the one on your way back Pat.
Thanks. As I stood I could see the brightness coming and going as the sun went behind a cloud and came out again. Small things!
I’ve been a bit busy lately invigilating GCSEs for a school, so sorry for the delay in replying.
All the best 🙂
Great shot of trunks and shadows! Interesting camp … looks like pretty close quarters!
Thank goodness for the strong fence!
The football event was rather disruptive and a “field” behind Cardiff Castle that was used for both the RHS show and a football fans’ village is now closed for a few months for re-turfing!
All the best 🙂
the trees, lichen and wildflowers are nice and it’s nice to see how well the trees look, I sometimes see curled leaves and have taken to sometimes uncurling to see what is there, on my hornbeam tree following a few years ago I found spiders, Frances
I couldn’t reach the curled leaf unfortunately! These elms tend to have branches quite high off the ground, so I have to depend on my camera’s zoom…
Best wishes 🙂
I can excuse the lego brick–dropped by a child probably. But shame on the adult litterers.
Indeed, it is a big problem in our lovely city…
Best wishes 🙂