Water water everywhere, and I’m not just talking about rattlechain lagoon. Not surprisingly, the causeway path is now breached in several places.
Didn’t diggers used to pass this way?
Letting it go again- typical Rhodia
And more water via rainfall down Somerset Way flooding the land- or Badger Karma at work perhaps? I can honestly say that this above sea level West Midlander does not have a great deal of sympathy for those southerners who choose to live in splendid rural isolation below sea level, nor see why he should have to contribute to flood defence for an area he would never visit. I wonder how many of them would choose to live in The Black Country if their homes were “bought up” as some of them are calling for the Government to do- why the hell should the rest of the country pay to relocate unsustainable farms and dwellings?
And I see that immensely popular animal welfare lover and Environment Minister old ‘Ow Pat. has put his foot in it again; perhaps he should consider moving the flood defence posts. Dredging the rivers is not the answer, but no doubt it will be for this anti-wildlife party to win a few votes. I suppose rural Somerset would like to see all the toxic dredgings moved to purpose built incinerators in the West Midlands- as far away from their green belts as possible- well why don’t you all go and f**k yourselves.
“Put money in thy purse ‘ow pat.”
“Dats da way ta doit.”
The Environment Agency have come in for some stick in their handling of the Southern floods. I can only say their handling of waste disposal sites is little better. There’s more to learn about their discussions concerning the closure of the rattlechain site as a landfill, but it appears to me to be a rush job, not thought through very well at all. This type of decision making goes on all the time with very little scrutiny, and usually those making the decisions are not there within a few short years, meaning that the accountability trail retires with them.
Another long term regulator that I was never impressed with were British Waterways. Wildlife has always been the poor relation of the canals, as it generates no money. I have touched on the death traps that the canals can be before, but now tha The Canal and Rivers Trust has taken over, its difficult to see whether this charity will put its resources into The South or maintain key routes in the grotty spots of the Midlands.
Take for example the poor response to the embankment collapse near the Coseley Tunnel, which has now completely blocked any passage through it for cyclists and pedestrians. This happened around a year ago, but no sign of any remedial works to resolve the issue, meaning a 20 minute diversion at least to the other side- unless you fancy a swim.
YOU SHALL NOT PASS!
It was of course through this portal that the Alfred Matty boats would have returned to base from their chemical traffic run from Oldbury via rattlechain. The landslip perhaps shows the shit construction of some canal embankments and how they can give way without warning. There seem to be a few of them occuring in recent times, such as the one at Stourbridge a couple of years ago. As this inconvenienced boaters however, it was a little more speedily repaired.
Another gripe about canals management are those useless radar gate barriers, that do not stop motor bikes but do wreck pushbikes.
Bloody useless, bloody radar gates. Get the angle grinder out.
Then there are those towpaths seemingly laid by people of the road for “terty -tree quid” that contain more water than the canals themselves. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse as a towpath user, the CONtractors and the chain gang strim the blackthorn hedges across the bike run, causing mayhem for anyone on two wheels, and sometimes even dogs. Bloody punctures, bloody CRT!
And finally…… a swan rescue tying together the theme of structures and water. Something guided me to look down here yesterday, and it quickly became apparent that it was a stroke of luck.
This is one of those odd canal structures that seem to serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever. It is located at the end of Lock 3 on the Factory Locks at Tipton, which joins the new mainline with the old mainline at Factory Road. A sort of overflow waterfall well thingy about 10′ deep.
But not much good if you are a swan that goes over the drop.
“Poor little fella”- help’s on the way
So a call to the RSPCA was in order. I have been down here catching a bird before; a splits effort stradled between the two walls waiting for a wet duck to lift off. It took me a few attempts for the “howz that” moment when it flew into my hands. A swan however is a different prospect altogether. And so after a couple of hours two inspectors attended- I thought it would be a fire brigade job but one of them managed to hook him up. Apparently it was the second time in a week that a swan had been pulled out of there. Thankfully no injuries, a job well done.
Back on safer waters- just stay away from rattlechain