Country diary: For the beloved Ash Dome, death is not the end | Anita Roy

Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd: This living sculpture, planted in the 1970s 'for the 21st century', is fading fast. But heartbreak is not the only responseTen years ago when I visited the Ash Dome, it was an elegant, twisting circle of beautiful trees. Ten years ago, ash dieback had not yet reached this corner of Wales. Returning now to this secret location, I steeled myself for heartbreak. And there it was.Today, the Ash Dome, a living sculpture by the renowned artist David Nash, is an elephant's graveyard. Pale, twisted limbs encircle a heap of dead branches. On a few trunks, new shoots spring innocently upwards, but most are ailing, their bark white and flaky as dead skin. Continue reading...