The restoration of the parkland which reopens this week after being shut since March because of the foot-and-mouth disease is expected to

The restoration of the parkland, which reopens this week after being shut since March because of the foot-and-mouth disease, is expected to take 10 years and cost £100,000.Janet Edwards, the trust's visitor services manager, said: "A decision was taken to restore the parkland to the north of the house, but all the original plans and blueprints had long since disappeared."The paintings provide the only authentic record of how the estate looked at the time, and thankfully they are a very fine source from which we can recreate the geometric avenues of yesteryear. He didn't even have a hot air balloon to go up in to get a bird's-eye view. He worked from the plans and his imagination."The 1st Earl of Warrington bought the 250-acre estate near Altrincham during the 17th century. He died penniless, leaving his son to bring the property to a suitable state of aristocratic grandeur. But the dynasty no longer resides at Dunham Massey.The 2nd Earl, who married a wealthy heiress, combined "profit and patriotism" with aesthetics by planting his geometric avenues and selling some of the timber to the Royal Navy to build ships as it began to spearhead Britain's imperialist ambitions.More than 50,000 trees were planted in the traditional pattern decided by the nobleman, whose cultural conservatism prevented him from succumbing to the landscaping trends of the time. The resulting parkland is one of the few such areas to have escaped the hand of Capability Brown, the landscaper who tore up formal French-style avenues to produce grand vistas for the Georgian ?te.Ms Edwards said: "It seems that the 2nd Earl was something of a traditionalist.

He had little time for the fashions of the era, so it is thanks to him that we can reproduce a more classical style.". The number of cars abandoned on roadsides has risen fivefold in the past five years, reflecting a slump in the price of scrap metal. The number of cars abandoned on roadsides has risen fivefold in the past five years, reflecting a slump in the price of scrap metal. The fact that motorists with "old bangers" now have to pay to have their cars scrapped, rather than themselves being paid for the car, is the reason for the boom in car dumping, according to the Local Government Association.Today's cost of getting a scrap dealer to tow away a car is between £20 to £50, plus VAT. Five years ago motorists would have received that amount for their old vehicle. The rise in dumping was highlighted by Tony Blair in his speech last week on the quality of life in communities.

"Abandoned cars are a major and increasing problem in many areas. They encourage crime and make an area look squalid and run-down," the Prime Minister said.In Kent more than 30,000 abandoned cars were dealt with last year ­ the owners of 20,000 were traced and compelled to dispose of them properly ­ at a cost of £715,000, with three full-time staff working on the problem. Most were left in private car parks or in a lane of a busy road, said Peter Horn of Kent County Council."An abandoned car can be dangerous to children playing on it. It is an environmental eyesore, it is a pile of rubbish, and if it has been set on fire it has even worse environmental hazards with fuel and oil spills," Mr Horn said.Ian Powell, head of environmental protection for Solihull District Council in the West Midlands, thinks the amount of abandoned cars in the district has tripled since last year alone He said: "Our biggest problem is tracking down the owners.

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