From Tom Matthewson
Godalming, Surrey
Having lived for many years on a hill overlooking Gatwick Airport, three
miles away as the plane flies, I became accustomed to the sinister sounds of
swirling air that would follow aircraft passing overhead— although
visitors walking in the garden would frequently express alarm (“Trails of
destruction”, 16 November, p 28).
The effects of these vortices on the ground may be more serious than that,
however. On a number of occasions, young trees in the garden or nearby woodland
would be inexplicably stripped of their upper branches. The only explanation
that I could identify was the effect of these vortices moving across the
ground.
