On Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:03:27 +0100, Martin wrote:

" Fifty years after Dutch elm disease wiped out over 25 million trees
in the UK" So long ago?

Maybe that's from the date it was first discovered in the UK. I certainly
remember the fuss about Dutch Elm Disease which I would date roughly to
the early 70's, 40 years ago.

Wikipedia:

"Circa 1967, a new, far more virulent strain arrived in Britain on a
shipment of rock elm U. thomasii logs from North America, and this strain
proved both highly contagious and lethal to European elms; more than 25
million trees have died in the UK alone. The disease is still migrating
northwards through Scotland, reaching Edinburgh in the late 1970s, and
Inverness in 2006. By 1990, very few mature elms were left in Britain or
much of continental Europe. "

--
Cheers
Dave.