The Emerald Forest

21st February 2026

For reasons which will become obvious, I was going to call this post ‘The Big Bamboo’ but decided to try and be a bit more original. Having said that, if you fancy a laugh, google ‘Big Bamboo lyrics’ or, even better, listen to the version recorded by Trinidad calypso legend The Mighty Sparrow. Tee hee.

Now, where was I? Oh yes. I remember enjoying this 1985 eco-thriller when I was at university:

So much so, I decided to stage my own version, filmed entirely on location at Pollards Mill. Very appropriately, this starred my uni buddy Wyn, with whom I saw the original at the Commodore cinema in Aberystwyth 41 years ago. Wyn is currently staying with us and mucking into our Pollards project big time. Not for nothing does he go by the sobriquet Winnie the Pool 😎

At Pollards we have our own emerald forest in the shape of two large stands of bamboo, one on either side of the pool chattel:

They are picturesque and sonorous. Unfortunately they grow like the clappers. Well, they are bamboo. They were encroaching on the roof of the building, much like our late lamented coconut palm (see ‘Demolition Day 2’, 5th September 2025) and needed some serious attention. Wyn and I began this endeavour with our pruning saw, which was very hard going. Enter our gardening hero Jason, who lent us his lethal serrated monster, evoking memories of another 1980s classic, Crocodile Dundee (“That ain’t a knife. This is a knife”):

Here we go:

This fallen forest giant was one of many:

Bloody hard graft, but satisfying and beneficial in equal measure. The pool chattel gets some breathing space, we still have loads of lovely bamboo swaying in the breeze, and we have a stockpile of material which we can use to create something magical. Like this…

We have a couple of willing volunteers with good ideas for future bamboo projects, so they’re on the list. We are getting there!

PS the pool pipe is now fixed ✅