The latest exhibition has confirmed me as a fan of David Hockney. For many years I just didn’t ‘get it’. Then in a moment of enlightenment a few years ago at the summer exhibition I was mesmerised by his large tree canvass. It drew me in and took me to another level. With this in mind I just had to see the latest offerings, trailed so comprehensively in Countryfile.  I was not disappointed. Perhaps the one comment I might make was in the room set aside for the works completed on the i-pad. It was just not big enough to give the works’ sense of scale.  However, that said, I begin to see what he is offering.  I remain a novice but happy to have discovered my own sense of wonder through his interpretations.

Denny Bradbury

Belonging, as I do, to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust is my small way of trying to redress the effect of human interference on the balance of nature. I believe in the work also of the Woodland Trust. It is these two areas that I consider to be vital to the survival of the planet. This couplet came to me as I walked my lovely dog through the Buckinghamshire countryside:

‘To save the planet we need bees and trees; Our survival depends on both of these.’ More a mantra than a poem.

I went on to write a longer poem but this is not the space for pessimism, rather hope that the mantra above may find its way into the public consciousness and take root.

Once I sent 2 of my environmental poems to HRH The Prince o Wales. His letter to me was encouraging as he considered my poetry ‘thoughtful’. I have the letter still as it is nice to know that, at least in this, I have similar aims as the heir to the throne.

Denny Bradbury