You're right, it is very strange tinbasher! And what you said about things being 'tidied up', well when I was sorting stuff out of the garage to take to a local auction, I found my book 'Hovel in the Hills' by Elizabeth West. Have you ever read it? It’s brilliant.
anyway, she was saying in the bit I was reading tonight that she and hubby used to know this lovely bit of wasteland that had so many wild flowers, trees and wildlife in it, and because it was so overgrown, hardly anyone used to go there, but there were some wonderful birds and little creatures living there. then one day the 'conservationists' moved in and decided to 'tidy' it up. The old quarry pit was filled in with the hummocks and other stuff lying around, all the plants and weeds were destroyed and grass planted. then to be good conservationists, they planted plants and young trees, but they were the same trees that they'd destroyed on younger ones, but all the birds and other wildlife had been killed or moved away. It never was the same again!!!! lol
Our garden is the opposite. When we moved here, the conifers the previous owners had planted were small, only a foot high. now normally we would have dug them up, but as our garden backs onto the A52 which is very busy and noisy, we left them there and the trees that the highways dept had planted when they built the A52 have now grown high, plus we have other plants and trees around and our 'lawn' grows really long before Brian gets around to cutting it and we have a bird box. At first, we noticed it was very quiet (apart from the traffic of course!) and we used to say isn't it strange how there's no birds around here? But now everything has grown, as well as the blooming pigeons, we have swallows who usually nest in the old goat shed, but I turfed them out in case they gave something nasty to our chicks, but they are still here, so they've found somewhere else close by, there is a blackbird's nest in one honeysuckle and the wagtail that last year nested in the pile of paviours on the drive has also nested in the same honeysuckle, there is a pair of wrens nesting nearby and a pair of wrens.
We also get gold finches, all the usual sparrows, there's a starlings nest in the hole in the roof all the finches and blue and great tits. It's a much better garden now, shame about the traffic!!!! But it’s always quiet Christmas day!!!! lol