When we first moved into our present house, about eight years ago, you could clearly see the back bedroom of a house in the next road. Nothing too untoward but sometimes you would see the young man living there doing muscle poses in front of what I presume must have been a mirror. We’d wanted to plant some trees anyway but that was a particular motivation, to give ourselves and our neighbours a bit more privacy.

That gentleman moved out, or changed bedrooms, or got more shy and we haven’t seen him for a long time. The back bedroom still has a large bay window and still doesn’t have a net curtain. However, it hardly matters because the trees have grown, Particularly at the height of summer, it is not just that you can’t really see the window any more – you can barely see the house.

Mission accomplished!