Tag: mess

#365daysofbiking Is there any need for that?


November 7th – I see that the Canal and River Trust continue with their madly frequent bank mowing schedule with the towpath grass clearly just having been cut near Chasewater on the Anglesey Branch Canal.

There is no reason to cut this grass in November. It’s left a muddy, rotting mess behind and won’t be good for the grass, wildlife of anything else over winter.

The C&RT are always moaning they have no money, yet seem to have plenty to pay for this ridiculously frequent exercise in cosmetics.

It defies any logic.

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#365daysofbiking Filthy scum

August 17th – This needs no explanation: A bag of dog waste, collected by a dog ‘lover’ to look responsible, tossed into the hedge on a canal bank near Clayhanger when nobody is watching. It will now remain here, out of reach, a monument to your lazy disrespect until the wind dislodges it.

This is a filthy, disrespectful and nasty habit.

Those doing this are scum. No more, no less.

Don’t just pick up after emptying your dog, dispose of it’s waste properly. You bought the animal, you are responsible for the shit it extrudes.

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January 17th – Recently had a new fridge or freezer? Left the old one out for the scrap man to collect? Well done, this is where the bits they couldn’t weigh in ended up.

This is the ditch running beside Green Lane at Bullings Heath, Walsall Wood.

If you leave stuff out for tatters and scrap men, you aren’t recycling, and it’s not out of sight, out of mind. We all have to pay to get this stuff cleaned up. The rubbish fairy doesn’t exist.

Leaving stuff out in the hope it’ll disappear as if by magic renders you no better than a flytipper, which is, incidentally, the way it’s considered in law.

August 21st – For some reason, of late the Canada geese really have taken a shine to the marina in Silver Street, Brownhills.

Time was not so long ago you’d hardly ever see a goose on the cut, but this summer, they love it here – honking, preening and generally making a mess.

I’m fond of these large, truculent, much misunderstood birds – did you know there are twelve separate types of Canada Goose? – bu by heck, they make a mess.

It’ll be interesting to see if this is a passing attraction, or a longer habitation.

December 3rd – A better day today. The bug had receded, and I took a day out for rest and paperwork. I took a spin up into Brownhills at lunchtime on an errand, and took the opportunity to check out the canalside at Silver Street. I note work clearing the scrub on the land formerly occupied by Silver Court Gardens has been taking place, which may indicate someone’s got plans. At Silver Street itself, the area of canal bank laughably termed a ‘marina’ in development documents of the day is looking considerably down-at-heel. The paving is breaking up, the barriers rotten and falling down. The greenery is nice, of course, but the open space really could do with a bit of a refurbishment. This seemed likely in 2007 when the new bridge was unveiled, but any plans for environmental improvements seem to have faded.

It would be easy to blame Walsall Council for this, but it belongs to the Canal and River Trust, who don’t really seem bothered over it. I know local Councillors and others have fought hard to no avail to get the barriers replaced, and local volunteers work hard here litter picking.

It’s ironic that as these moorings decline, they’ve recently been so well used by boats.

It’s all a bit sad, really.

December 1st – I swung past St. James Church in Brownhills to check a couple of things out, and taking the path between Great Charles Street and the Church, I noticed how much litter and leaf detritus was gathering there. I’m not sure who’s responsible for this path – whether it’s Walsall Council or the Church – but it’s pretty grim.

I also noticed that in the fantastic covered bike shed in the adjacent schoolyard, two children’s bikes had been left. It struck me as being a bit odd, and slightly sad: who’d go to school on a bike, and not come home on it? Surely the wee ones are missing their wheels? 

Few things sadder than an abandoned bicycle.

June 2nd – Ah, it must be bin day in Four Oaks again. Remember, kids, this is one of the poshest, most opulent and wealthy bits of Birmingham, yet the footpaths are impassible to pushchairs and wheelchairs, refuse torn from bags by animals is scattered on the verges, and much of it doesn’t smell too good.

Birmingham is the second largest local authority in the country, and has a refuse collection system of the type one would find in a developing country. A disgrace, no more, no less.