There are hedgehogs visiting the pond every evening and there are lots of birds too. Once you move up and out of my garden, you can see that I'm actually living in an urban forest. The endless canopy of large, mature trees is marvellous from a wildlife point of view, because so many of our garden birds and mammals have their origins in woodland. So the city is really forest canopy with little glades. Between them, all those different gardens add up to an extraordinary variety of wildlife habitats.
Victorian parks are a marvellous part of our heritage.
They're a fantastic resource for wildlife, and the large trees contribute so much to the wildlife in my garden. There are tawny owls, for instance, that call around the houses at night, which roost and nest here, and lots of the birds that feed on my bird feeders nest in these tree branches. The other great feature here is the water, but unfortunately there are so many Canada geese on this lake that not much else can survive. Elsewhere in town there are other wetland reserves that can still generate wildlife for the garden. 150 years ago canals were the transport system for the whole industrial revolution.