gd & I went into the city centre today ……… that’s not right – what I really mean is we went to the cordons and barriers around our city centre and looked through the wire mesh fencing.

The trees were beautiful with their autumn colours, the grass was lush and green, the river meandered peacefully along its usual path ………. but the devastation to buildings is unbelievable. Not just a few buildings – latest reports say that 231 buildings will be demolished, 81 will be partly demolished and 36 will be made safe. Long sections of some streets already have, or will have, all the shops demolished completely.

This seat and tree with its vibrant colours appealed to me as an attractive, peaceful setting – but the damaged home in the background destroys that, and sadly is so typical of our inner city buildings.