What Lies Beneath Rattlechain Lagoon?

So the latest phase of this farce comes to a close with the “consultation” now over- 11th November.

Comments have been made regards several policies within the document as well as the housing allocations SH35 and SH36 on their unsoundness in the plan. I would like to thank all those who signed a new petition supporting this and hope that it will help to go some way into kicking this longstanding nonsense into touch once and for all.

At the heart of this scheme is the desire to move large amounts of over tipped foundry sand from one tip into another, dumped for profit at that time, into a vacant hole filled with toxic waste. The nature of the chemical within the lagoon make this impossible for safe development, but those behind the scheme only want that hole to serve as a cheap means of decanting the over tipped foundry sand into another pile so they can build on the waste that was moved off the former sewage works. It is a carousel FRAUD of “reclamation” that has been ongoing since the late 1980’s , and there are some people who remember what went on then and fear what could happen again when the dusts of time have settled and memories are a little faded. SO LEST WE FORGET. 

1994 The blackened foundry sand hill should not be tipped into the toxic lagoon so houses can be built by conmen and liars

Claims that were made to attempt to link the two tips in 2011 at the site allocations examination have not materialised in the last 13 years, and yet, we just appear to be at the same drawing board stage as then expected to believe that something will be different by 2034- half way into the Sandwell plan period. 

I have spoken to many people who do remember and are concerned about-

• The flooding in Law Close which would occur again if the mountain was moved around
• The dusts blowing into their properties and onto their cars
• The statutory nuisance of vibrations when machinery shook their houses
• The lack of interest from Sandwell council environmental health to the issues
• The health impacts of breathing in foundry sand and other wastes blowing in the wind
• The “two years” of operations on site that morphed into at least ten

• The same bogus timescale being used again with a raft of excuses as to why extra time is needed- as per the section 73 applications that replaced another failed planning application condition- like a street whore dropping their drawers when a new car comes into view. 
• The lack of political interest in tackling the issues
• The difficulties now in getting off the Temple Way estate by car
• How that would be even more difficult when as now finding yourself in Gladstone Drive and Macdonald Close on the edge of the estate you suddenly find yourself in the new middle of it. 
• The loss of valued green space, especially as a means of escape during the fascistic “lockdown”

On the political note, I emailed 10 councillors in four different wards around the site and which if a new housing scheme went ahead of 500 plus extra houses would impact all of the wards of Great Bridge, Oldbury, Tividale and  Tipton Green.

I got one decent response from Will Gill, above and thank him publicly for supporting local residents. Do remember that silence is support for the other side, and not for the people who will be impacted and also that all of these councillors will be up for election in 2026, and please do vote out the silent ones when the opportunity arises- they are not on your side.  

Sandwell council live in fantasy land with their statements in the sustainability report mentioning these two sites.

Good luck trying to “resolve” the constraints.

Oh there are “some issues” with ground conditions LOL

All of this will go to a public examination next year in a process framed under planning presumption in favour of development and to a supposedly “independent” planning inspector. Whatever happens then, I say this to those who are proposing this scheme.

I will be coming out swinging. Never before will you have encountered scrutiny and criticism like that you will be facing from me, and I will call out your bullshit phoney consultants and their “pre-loading” fucking shite to their face, reminding the inspector of the previous mounds of foundry sand they claimed could be reclaimed in the same way at Coneygree and Shidas Lane, (and this same not materialised hair brained scheme they proposed in 2011 that could be achieved by 2021),  and just ended up as costs to the public purse down the line. 

With just two countryside rangers managing nine local nature reserves in Sandwell, you can see how highly this local authority values its designated sites. You can also see that in planning policy terms, and planning officer terms, they have also demonstrated that they do not even know where these areas are located or following relevant policy of material planning considerations when delegating reports in that regard.

The Sandwell Local Plan (SLP) is a manifesto for house building and offers nothing for wildlife or its remaining fragmented habitat. Unfortunately it mirrors a national policy made by corrupt political scum of all main parties who have made it this way by classifying wildlife in terms of “units” and “credits” which are transferable to tick a box. We are therefore introduced to the terms “biodiversity net gain”, “biodiversity credits” and “nature recovery strategy maps” which are meaningless theoretical bollocks allowing desk jockeys for environmental consultancies (planning enablers), with not much time on their hands to spend outdoors, but plenty of time to drink their lattes in a cosy warm office preparing  shite like this.

Two terms are defined and are important to this post,  but they are largely theoretical and wordy . I have underlined the statement below which is crucial.

Biodiversity net gain definition

“An approach to development and land management that aims to leave the natural environment in a measurably better state than it was beforehand. The objective requires the biodiversity value attributable to a development to exceed pre-development biodiversity value by at least 10%. Post-development biodiversity value may comprise onsite habitat, offsite biodiversity gain and biodiversity credits.”

Nature Recovery Network definition

“An expanding, increasingly connected, network of wildlife-rich habitats supporting species recovery, alongside wider benefits such as carbon capture, water quality improvements, natural flood risk management and recreation. It includes the existing network of protected sites and other wildlife rich habitats as well as and landscape or catchment scale recovery areas where there is co ordinated action for species and habitats.”

The SNE2 policy that the council have produced in the SLP is shown below and explains their rationale.

I put in an FOI to Sandwell council regards the nonsense they had spouted about certain sites they had considered in a cabinet report prior to the publication of the current plan out for consultation. I wanted to know which consultancy had drawn up the garbage as well as the methodology used to produce the eight listed sites.

The council replied and gave me a link to the study below conducted by an entity called “Lepus consulting” who also are behind the sustainability appraisal for the SLP.

Sandwell_Biodiversity_Net_Gain__BNG__Strategy__September_2023_ (2)

So let us interrogate this document and see it for what it is, which is a very weak report full of theory, very little practical surveying and omissions of certain sites which do not make sense.

“Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (SMBC) has commissioned Lepus Consulting to undertake a study to identify and undertake an assessment of habitats within council-owned sites in Sandwell to establish their suitability for use as potential habitat banks for the delivery of BNG.”

The first thing to point out is that SMBC ignore privately owned sites- the ones that are most likely to be built upon and which are also the most likely to be destroy wildlife habitat that has naturally re-wilded, like the ones off Rattechain SH35 and SH36.

“In the State of the Nature Report in 2019 headline data indicated that the abundance and distribution of the UK’s biodiversity has, on average, declined since 1970, with a 13% decline in average species abundance3 . This is attributable to a number of pressures including intensive farming, climate change and urbanisation which have led to pollution, habitat loss and degradation.”

3 State-of-Nature-2019-UK-full-report.pdf

I do not argue with their opening statements, but the threat of “urbanisation” is exactly what the SLP is proposing in real terms.

We learn that Sandwell has nine nature reserves, including Sheepwash which is also a SINC but looking at a map of these sites on page 32 of the PDF  you can see how grossly disproportionate nature reserves are in Sandwell with only one in Tipton and none at all in Wednesbury, Smethwick or Oldbury- this makes up four of Sandwell’s six towns!

Why is West Bromwich stacked with nature reserves and little elsewhere?

The meat on the bones of this pathetic report is revealed at 6.2 onwards.

• They only visited sites once due to “time constraints” Why is time a factor in this report, as it seems that this was done by the council on the hoof to attempt a hurried justification of coming up with random sites they could use.
• They visited in the summer months when nature is probably at its most secretive with increased footfall of people. Different species are obviously present at different times of year, and passage migrant species do not appear to have even come into the equation of “biodiversity”.
• They do not appear to have used any Eco record reports, or local information of groups like sandnats, or certainly Friends of Sheepwash to inform their observations or knowledge of sites. They undertook no “bio-blitz” of any site.
• They could not even map some areas

• They do not even attempt to investigate water habitats at all, again due to “time constraints”.
• “Further assessments” needed- because theirs was not good enough.

• The worst part about this whole “strategy” is the failure to even look at privately owned sites. These are the ones of course like SH35 and SH36 on the doorstep of Sheepwash and in the nature recovery area map that the council expect will be boosted by a 10% increase in on site biodiversity. Has it not occurred to these idiots that they do not have any knowledge of what nature exists on these sites but they expect developers will be honest about what is there so that their paid liars of environmental consultants will produce a report claiming that they can boost BNG by 10% by creating a token hedge or swale (dirty surface water ditch ) like the one on the picture below?

Don’t try and tell me this has any nature value FFS. It’s a dirty fucking ditch!

• The cracker can best be described a “a pikey horse and car dumping shithole”. There is no point boosting biodiversity in such a place as the frequent weed dumping disposal in buckets is the only thing growing there,  and they have only created this for political reasons due to Princes End ward being a swing seat area.
• The Menzies open space contains the contaminated Millpool or Milky- contaminated by Bitumenous waste that was not prevented from being further polluted ironically when the site was turned into housing! The remediation fraud of the developers were not protected by any body including the EA and the useless officers at Sandwell council, harming wildlife and causing significant pollution to an already contaminated water body. The cover up by all concerned was massive and a disgrace. 
• I set the Millpool story out in four parts which offer definitive proof of why post reclamation of industrial sites and brownfield land destroys nature and habitat.

Millpool West Bromwich#1 The Major Bitumen dumping ground of W H Keys | What Lies Beneath Rattlechain Lagoon?

Millpool West Bromwich#2 The Meltdown of W H Keys | What Lies Beneath Rattlechain Lagoon?

Millpool West Bromwich#3 MARred by historic pollution and fake “clean up” – Part 1 | What Lies Beneath Rattlechain Lagoon?

Millpool West Bromwich#4 MARred by historic pollution and fake “clean up” – Part 2 | What Lies Beneath Rattlechain Lagoon?

• Of course Lepus know nothing of this as they do not have time, but do not even look at improving the water habitat at the pool either!

There is no explanation as to why private sites were not identified as habitat banks or even surveyed.             

• There has to be concern that this very point has already surfaced with the planning application at the Coneygree site in Tipton- owned by the same entity who now proposes sites SH35 and SH36 and previously by the conmen foundry sand dumpers who abandoned it and left both sites in the state they are in and future dependent on money from the public purse.

‘Wildlife buffer zone’ to be removed to make way for industrial warehouse in Tipton | Express & Star

The council had no policy when this farce unfolded due to national policy failure, but they do not appear to recognise they will have no basis of knowledge as to the real nature value of these private sites.

As it is, we are aware that the former Duport’s Tip area next to Rattlechain contains a rare butterfly- the small blue, (Cupido minimus), Britain’s smallest butterfly as well as the associated kidney vetch which its caterpillars eat. It is protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981 and a priority species under the UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework. I had a site walkover with naturalist Darrell Harrison who found the butterfly and several unusual plants on the site of local rarity.

Small blue on kidney vetch Darrell Harrison seen at the SH35 area in June 2024.

Of course such sites already connected to Sheepwash and the wildlife corridor of the canal could be used as habitat banks, but if only someone would tell Sandwell council that instead of wanting to shove more trees into dog shit parks like Tividale to tick a box.

It is also interesting that just this week the leader of Sandwell council has proposed an animal welfare taskforce policy. I have concerns that this will be nothing more than a pontificating talking shop like the unsound policy SNE2 above, but what is interesting is one of the claims in the new vision Notice of Motion – 29 October 2024. 

Animal Welfare

“Council notes that:

Protecting wildlife and natural habitats is crucial for maintaining biodiversity and ecological balance.”

Words are cheap eh when your planning policy overrides it! 

With just three weeks to go to make comments on the final version of the toxic Sandwell Local Plan, for some reason the council decided to give us another week to November 11th to submit comments. By then maybe some people will have been able to read through the 418 page plan and the many appendices and “evidence” PDF’s included.

If you have time on your hands then please do read it at the link below.

Local Plan – Publication Version

Of course, this volume is off putting, and designed so that people will not even bother. Well, you should bother because this may be the only opportunity to make objections with the crazed Labour Government shilling house building programme for the construction industry.

I’ve read the whole thing and the only paragraph of note which mentions Rattlechain within the main 418 leaf tomb is on Page 63 at paragraph 3.47

“3.47 Residential development is anticipated at Rattlechain, south of Sheepwash Nature Reserve. This would see the remediation of a long-standing, problematic and heavily contaminated site, with it brought back into more efficient use and being able to assist in meeting the shortfall in housing numbers. The vision for the Dudley Port area is directed by a Garden City approach and principles, working with the area’s existing attributes, namely the green space, canals and linkages.”

This is where you can comment and object IF you create an account via the council’s preferred way for you to comment. DO NOTE HOWEVER THAT DESPITE THEIR LENGTHY DOCUMENT, THEY ONLY OFFER YOU THE CHANCE OF LIMITED WORDS. 

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council – Sandwell Local Plan – Reg 19 Publication

I would ignore this, and instead use a form below which you should keep a copy of and submit asking for a receipt, or even take it into the office at Sandwell council and ask for one when handing it over. Do not trust SMBC ever with things such as this.

Reg19_Publication_Consultation_Response_Form_v2

The email address to return these to is below, before 11th November remember.

Sandwell_LocalPlan@sandwell.gov.uk or post it to Sandwell Local Plan, Planning Policy,
Sandwell Council House, Freeth Street, Oldbury, B69 3DE.

On the form Remember to put “LOCAL PLAN” as to Title of document you are
commenting on and  3.47 as to the paragraph you are commenting on. 

The most relevant part of the attached documents is the appendices at a mere 147 pages 😥 where the nitty gritty of the controversial housing allocations are made. I would start with reading that, which you can find below, and see further on in this post for the most relevant material. PLEASE COMPLETE A SEPARATE FORM TO OBJECT TO HOUSING ALLOCATIONS SH35 AND SH36. 

Reg_19_SLP_Appendices_09.09

OBJECTING

This is where the matter becomes more complicated in that even though the area around Rattlechain lagoon and the totally separate entity of the Former Duport’s Tip is “a crap site for residential”, the way in which these consultations are constructed is one in which legal compliance, (of course made by a bunch of corrupt scumbags) and “soundness” are tested- in theory by a Bristol based planning inspector next year at a public enquiry. Don’t worry about that, I’ve got that covered, I just need the support in getting there and putting across just how unpopular and ridiculous this idea is to build houses in such an area.

The following definitions of “soundness” are used.

In your response in the forms tick UNSOUND. 

Why is it unsound bullet points=

It is not positively prepared

• The claim that one site “rattlechain” is deliverable and that it is “anticipated” is not a  robust proof that it is. The site is in two separate ownerships, with the one- Rattlechain lagoon still a hazardous waste site with an environmental permit that has not been remediated.
• The council at 3.47 do not distinguish between rattlechain lagoon and the surrounding land in separate ownership which was used as a foundry sand dumping free for all by the company Mintworth who abandoned the land. The main reason for this is that foundry sand was classified as a waste material meaning paying significant tax to continue to dump it, as was the case with their site at Coneygree which is also over tipped and not remediated.  The two sites, liquid landfill containing white phosphorus and the dry mound containing the sewage works waste, foundry sand and mixed materials are not compatible and nor do they have a shared recent history- certainly never for tipping purposes to which the council refer. The contamination in both sites is different and cannot be dealt with by filling a hole in with a mound to deliver homes.
• At the previous examination in 2011 where the other part (former Duport’s Tip and Mintworth’s foundry sand “private open space”, it was discovered that Rhodia’s relationship with including the land was “passive”, and that their consultants did not consider it technically feasible to tip waste from the other side into the lagoon.

M13 c) Email from Rhodia to Council

• The development constraints on both sites have not been objectively assessed.

It is not justified

• The two sites are not joined, share no common recent history as tips and contain unsuitable materials to mix together.
• White phosphorus contained in rattlechain lagoon is present in tens of tonnes, and is currently still under water. When exposed to air this chemical emits toxic gases and can remain in sediments in areas such as this for thousands of years. The lack of detail at this stage of how this site could possibly be remediated within the timescale of just 10 years, belies the fact that in the last 13 years since the previous examination, there appears to be no further way forward at including the lagoon when the current owners are at the base starting point of “discussions” and non existent “master plans”. It is just a bluffing exercise to include a vacant hole to tip their problem over tipped mound into.
• Rhodia claimed that landfill gas was being emitted from the other side of their lagoon and entering their site.
• The existing area in Temple Way is not a “garden city” but a concrete car park with few gardens. The council’s claim of incorporating existing green space is utter nonsense.
• The loss of green space and the intensive housing capacity which is totally unrealistic of 500 houses is not within any definition of what a “garden city principle” is.

It is not effective

• As stated before, this area is not deliverable for housing by 2041, and previous evidence shows that it was not deliverable by 2021 when it was claimed by agents of the site owners that it was. Thirteen years after this, we appear to be at the drawing board “discussions” phase with no realistic prospect of development.
• Sandwell Council SWOT analysis (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and Threats) identified that there were significant contamination issues with this site and also the one at Coneygree which is owned by the same entity based in Hampton in Arden.

• Why should this company propose allocations which cannot be paid for by themselves, and the remediation costs met by the tax payer and not the polluter?
• The constraints are too great for sustainable development.

It is not consistent with national policy, or even the council’s own policy, both existing and proposed in this plan-

The National Planning Policy Framework.

NPPF_December_2023

This document is another long read with many contradicting paragraphs. The most important however in respect of unsoundness of the Sandwell plan and site allocations SH35 and SH36 are ”

180. Planning policies and decisions should contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment by: a) protecting and enhancing valued landscapes, sites of biodiversity or geological value and soils (in a manner commensurate with their statutory status or identified quality in the development plan);
181. d) minimising impacts on and providing net gains for biodiversity, including by establishing coherent ecological networks that are more resilient to current and future pressures;
182. e) preventing new and existing development from contributing to, being put at unacceptable risk from, or being adversely affected by, unacceptable levels of soil, air, water or noise pollution or land instability. Development should, wherever possible, help to improve local environmental conditions such as air and water quality, taking into account relevant information such as river basin management plans;

and f) remediating and mitigating despoiled, degraded, derelict, contaminated and unstable land, where appropriate”

Obviously the impact of this development would harm the existing biodiversity at the site as well as Sheepwash, a SINC and Nature Reserve. Pollution and the foundry sand issues encountered by residents in the 90’s would again cause serious impacts to land , air and water. 

I will be looking at the wildlife/habitat issues in a separate post. 

“Habitats and biodiversity

185. To protect and enhance biodiversity and geodiversity, plans should: a) Identify, map and safeguard components of local wildlife-rich habitats and wider ecological networks, including the hierarchy of international, national and locally designated sites of importance for biodiversity65; wildlife corridors and stepping stones that connect them; and areas identified by national and local partnerships for habitat management, enhancement, restoration or creation66;

and b) promote the conservation, restoration and enhancement of priority habitats, ecological networks and the protection and recovery of priority species; and identify and pursue opportunities for securing measurable net gains for biodiversity.”

“Ground conditions and pollution

189. Planning policies and decisions should ensure that: a) a site is suitable for its proposed use taking account of ground conditions and any risks arising from land instability and contamination. This includes risks arising from natural hazards or former activities such as mining, and any proposals for mitigation including land remediation (as well as potential impacts on the natural environment arising from that remediation); b) after remediation, as a minimum, land should not be capable of being determined as contaminated land under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990; and c) adequate site investigation information, prepared by a competent person, is available to inform these assessments.
190. Where a site is affected by contamination or land stability issues, responsibility for securing a safe development rests with the developer and/or landowner.
191. Planning policies and decisions should also ensure that new development is appropriate for its location taking into account the likely effects (including cumulative effects) of pollution on health, living conditions and the natural environment, as well as the potential sensitivity of the site or the wider area to impacts that could arise from the development. In doing so they should: a) mitigate and reduce to a minimum potential adverse impacts resulting from noise from new development – and avoid noise giving rise to significant adverse impacts on health and the quality of life ; b) identify and protect tranquil areas which have remained relatively undisturbed by noise and are prized for their recreational and amenity value for this reason; and c) limit the impact of light pollution from artificial light on local amenity, intrinsically dark landscapes and nature conservation.”

The contamination issues at this site are unmapped and impossible to mitigate with people living on the doorstep of the lagoon. Dewatering a site containing white phosphorus has not been attempted before with people living as close. In the US at Idaho, a similar lagoon set up required the US EPA to intervene when phosphine gas was emitted. The nearest inhabitants lived 2km away. 

A site in Clevedon in the UK tipped also by Albright and Wilson as with Rattlechain resulted in that land being rejected for future housing and retained as open space which required monitoring. 

The foundry sand at this site is unstable and evidence of this is shown by it leaching into the Rose Lane tunnel over many years. Two rights of way were substantially blocked by the foundry sand dumping and are no longer navigable without being formally diverted along a dangerous drop off Macdonald Close. The landowner has failed to remedy this, as did Mintworth over decades. It should also be stated that Sandwell Council has also totally failed to commence enforcement action with pathetic excuses as to why. 

Just read the disgusting situation caused by the John Hursts x2 of Mintworth when tipping the waste regards “adverse impacts” in paragraph 191. 

194. The focus of planning policies and decisions should be on whether proposed development is an acceptable use of land, rather than the control of processes or emissions (where these are subject to separate pollution control regimes). Planning decisions should assume that these regimes will operate effectively. Equally, where a planning decision has been made on a particular development, the planning issues should not be revisited through the permitting regimes operated by pollution control authorities.

THE WHOLE POINT IS THAT THE EA HAVE FAILED OVER DECADES TO ADEQUATELY MONITOR AND DEAL WITH THIS SITE. JUST LOOK AT ALL THE DEAD BIRDS WE REPORTED AND HAD TO PROVE DIED AS A DIRECT RESULT OF THE FUCKING CRAP THEY ALLOWED UNDER LICENCE. SANDWELL COUNCIL HAVE TOTALLY FAILED TO STOP DEVELOPMENTS AROUND THE SITE AND NOW ENCOURAGE THEM.

Site housing allocations.

As stated before, please complete a separate form each for SH35 AND SH36.

Reg_19_SLP_Appendices_09.09

On the title of document you are commenting on put “local plan appendices allocation SH35 and SH36 Pages 16-17. 

Use the same tests of unsoundness as above. This is dogmatic , but do realise that not objecting will be taken as support.

We have spoken to many people on the estate in recent weeks, and some are clueless as to the history of the area and the threats which await. Some remember the dark days of tipping and have shared their stories with us. People who live outside of the area, or spend half the year in Spain and invest money in The Caymen Islands do not give a shit about our area, the health of local people and the impacts that their avarice has caused. IT IS UP TO THE PEOPLE WHO DO LIVE IN THIS AREA TO STOP THEM, AS WHO ELSE WILL FOR THE NEXT GENERATION………………….?

😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛 😈

#STOPTHESANDWELLPLAN

The Sandwell Plan and the ludicrous inclusion of two areas including Rattlechain lagoon for 500 plus houses impact three if not four wards in the borough, Great Bridge, Oldbury, Tividale and Tipton Green. With boundary changes proposed for 2026, it may be the case that the lagoon ends up in Tividale ward.

I have written to the nine councillors in the first three wards, and also Richard Jeffcoat independent councillor in Tipton Green. You can read this submission below. Relevant links are included within the text for receipts and clarification.

sandwell plan councillor letter

Alternatively, if you live in these these wards and are aggrieved at the loss of green space this will entail, then please do get in touch with the councillors via email addresses below before the close of The Sandwell Plan consultation on 4TH NOVEMBER 2024. 

GREAT BRIDGE WARD

william_gill@sandwell.gov.uk

SahdaishKaur_Pall@sandwell.gov.uk

 soyfur_rahman@sandwell.gov.uk

OLDBURY WARD

suzanne_hartwell@sandwell.gov.uk

rizwan_jalil@sandwell.gov.uk

nagi_dayasingh@sandwell.gov.uk

TIVIDALE WARD

maria_crompton@sandwell.gov.uk

amrita_dunn@sandwell.gov.uk

Wakas_Younis@sandwell.gov.uk

TIPTON GREEN WARD. 

Richard_Jeffcoat@sandwell.gov.uk

All of these councillors are likely at present to be up for election in 2026 and well before the likely hood of any plans for the destruction of this area. Please respectfully make your views and objections known. 

And so we come to the great battle of our time- a high noon show down in stopping housing on Rattlechain and the longstanding plans of foundry sand dumping conmen who fucked off the scene when they could no longer justify to even bent planning officers in Sandwell Council any further excuses for window dressing and landscaping materials they had soiled the area with.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HOW THE WEST WASN’T WON. 

In 1988, The Black Country Development Corporation (BCDC) meddled in this regard by attempting to “masterplan” the area and failing totally by allowing the dumping of thousands of tonnes of foundry sand which is still all there. The big idea in creating BIG HEAP on the hill was to infill rattlechain lagoon with the waste- a complete non starter back then, estimated in 1990 prices, the cost of off site disposal of waste as an option was put at £3.325 Million. An alternative on site repository could have cost £2.95 million. It is worth noting that if Mintworth and co’s greed for quick development had not taken over, this could have been achieved using the former sewage works.

Here for the record is how much that estimate would translate to today- nearly £8 Million. Someone had better get robbing a stagecoach or the local bank, but no doubt the tax payer will be expected to pick up the tab by some political mayoral wanker who thinks the idea is a goer.

Back in the 90’s the absolute shambles “misery” of an operation on this site, estimated at two years and which unfolded for ten can be read HERE. Whilst housing was built on the sewage works, and areas off Macdonald Close, the hardest areas were left in situ. DO REMEMBER THAT RATTLECHAIN LAGOON ITSELF HAS NOT BEEN REMEDIATED- ONLY TWO SIDES WERE EVER MESSED WITH BY THE BELGIANS IN 2013. AS FOR THE FORMER MINTWORTH LAND, ASIDE FROM A TATTING OPERATION FOR METAL IN 2010, THAT ALSO REMAINS UNREMEDIATED AND THE DUMPING THAT WENT ON HERE AND ITS PROVENANCE HAS BEEN NOTED.

The days of BCDC have been repackaged as The West Midlands Combined Authority, with no mandate for its creation. It is an opportunity to use public money for rich men’s monopoly construction projects, gaslighting the public that they will benefit, when of course they will not.

Nowadays, the ludicrous “Garden City” agenda, originally a Quaker WEF liberal eugenicist psy-op has been introduced in a desperate attempt to greenwash rampant destruction of wildlife habitat in urban areas, with Dudley Port- or more accurately Tividale being swallowed into a mass housebuilding fraud that will destroy wildlife corridors along the canals and Tipton’s only Nature Reserve- Sheepwash. There are some unusual and rare habitats and species that have grown on the land around rattlechain, and they need to be protected.

We have opposed this bullshit for a very long time, and will fight to the bitter end to stop it. Every ten years Sandwell council as well as most others publish a plan which identifies housing and other needs for the next ten years, and sometimes further. It used to be known as “The Unitary Development Plan”, where the area was described as “white land” with no specific planning designation. It was however identified within “regeneration corridor 9” in the later published “Black Country Core Strategy” but without anything materialising since. 

THE 2012 Site allocation document. 

This resulted in a public enquiry which took place in 2011, before Rhodia had decided to tart up their site and Mintworth were still potting around, with the mysterious “Denver Limited” registered in Jersey claiming to own the land. LOL 🙂 🙂

When called out on the bullshit idea to package the site with Rattlechain lagoon, their agents promptly dropped that idea when Rhodia described the relationship on talks about joining the land as “passive”– ,meaning fuck all likely hood!

Despite remaining in the then plan, the inspector himself commented that he thought it unlikely that the scheme would go ahead- and so that proved with time given that we are now 13 years on and no plan. 

The council believed that 411 houses could be slotted into this area.

“However, the technical challenges mean remediation could prove to be financially prohibitive or technically impossible and I have serious doubts that the full potential of this site can be realised before 2021.” Paul Crysell planning Inspector. 

The Dudley Post Supplementary planning document 2017

This bullshit tack on was an attempt by SMBC planning policy to create a bizarre estate agent type sell of contaminated shit land claiming that housing could be built on it- leaving out much of the weaknesses and cost implications which it simply passed over without comment. I learned more about it via an FOI on the  “SWOT” analysis. This stands for Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

I looked at this in a post which can be read HERE. 

At the time, I started and organised a petition signed by around 400 people as residents of The Temple Way Estate and users of Sheepwash Nature Reserve.

This petition was never dealt with by Sandwell Council, and here I set out the longstanding denial and excuses offered by SMBC planning policy- specifically Jim Dale stunt double Andy Miller, who I am sure must view me as The Rumpo Kid given my desire to paint Stodge “Garden City” Red with a warning from history.

Stodge Garden City finds its “Marshall”.

It should be remembered that outline planning is an opportunity to examine schemes and determine if they are affordable and not reliant on the public purse. Schemes to identify sites should really look at affordability and who is going to pay for them BEFORE they appear on paper, and certainly not remain in plans for decades as this has when the polluter is unable or unwilling to pay. Miller’s response to the petition, which I would stress had to be chased, can be read below.

DP SPD Petition Response (7)

The key points according to him, with a typically wordy explanation reminds me of some of the “clues” that this bloke pictured below gave back in the day. “Dusty bin” is rattlechain and surrounding land for sure. I have gone into some of these below, but really he offers excuses based on a framework of civil service construction rather than the merits and weaknesses of the site allocation,  which as evidenced, has never materialised.

The Black Country Core Strategy/Black Country Plan and Ednam Road Dudley Council screwjob.

This was a planning and regeneration plan for the whole of the Black Country. It was used to guide planning and development decisions.

The four Black Country councils (Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton) adopted this plan in 2011 and was supposed to be relevant up to 2026. It was renamed The Black Country Plan at some stage just to confuse matters, and I have gone into its unsoundness HERE. However Dudley Council as lead organisers during a review, supposedly relevant up to 2039, decided to pull the plug and go their own way, at which point a consultation had already started , and as mentioned in Miller’s letter at that time was in motion. I again submitted the petition at this stage, also commenting at every opportunity about the objections and unrealistic soundness of the plans in corridor 9. This document should have proceeded to examination, with the petition considered as Miller claimed it should be at the time when allocations were to be reconsidered. Obviously we then had another invention and “CONsultation.”

In this plan however it was proposed that 342 houses could be built in the area specified in two plots- without including the lagoon.

It is also of course right next to Rattlechain lagoon itself. 

The Sandwell Plan. 

This was the bastard child of the Black Country Plan and an SMBC planning policy wet dream invention. I gave the reasons why it is not sound in its draft form and a rehash of earlier frauds HERE.

Now claimed that 511 houses could be packed into the areas also including the lagoon!

As well as another 36 including land alongside the River Tame FFS!

Obviously, once again, I objected to the scheme on behalf of The Friends of Sheepwash, emailed the petition and this is the receipt I initially got back from Sandwell Council Planning Policy- claiming acceptance of both. 

Imagine my surprise then on receiving this email from someone called Peter Simpson claiming to be from the same SMBC planning policy that had days earlier accepted the petition!

“Dear Mr Carroll,

Thank you for your representations on the Draft Sandwell Local Plan.

Unfortunately we cannot accept the petition submitted as part of your representations as it is several years old and does not relate to the Draft Sandwell Local Plan.

In light of this- if you consider there are any other issues you wish to raise (ie that were not covered by your other representations), can you please submit them as soon as possible, and in any case by the end of January 2024 so they may be considered as part of the Draft Sandwell Local Plan Representations.

Regards,

Peter Simpson Planning Officer”

The following email was sent in reply to this joker.

As explained here in the chain, the petition was signed by around 400 people , residents and site users of sheepwash, and in the attached letter from Andy Miller, I was led to believe that this would be taken into consideration when the chance to object to site allocations was available. Mr Simpson  failed to reply to my email, and so I do not accept his dismissal of it without valid explanation. I emailed the three ward councillors for Great Bridge, with only Will Gill bothering to respond. He did not receive a response from Simpson either! I then emailed him again where he finally got the response below – again from Miller.

miller smbc

Miller’s response is typical weasel antics, defended by “matters out of our control gov” and the lie that the plans for this area are any different in HIS plan to what they were in 2012 or even before that. It is just a matter of semantics and numbers but the central issue is the same. Filling a hole with over tipped foundry sand waste to save money using money from the public purse is the nub of the issue, and in that regard, I very much doubt that local residents views have changed in not wanting years of that and the destruction of green open space on their doorsteps. Of the subsequent consultation which kicked off on 23rd September for six weeks, and see upcoming post on how to object he states…..

“It is important to note that any representations received in relation to this consultation will not be dealt with by the Council. In accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012, they will instead be submitted by the Council to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, along with the Local Plan itself. The Secretary of State will then appoint an inspector to hold an Examination in Public, probably next Spring, at which the representations will be considered, and Mr. Carrol (sic) or any other resident, would be able to attend and participate.”

And so let’s finish this particular segment of this tale by reminding folks of what Sandwell planning really thought of development in this area in 2002 on the former sewage works site, away from glossy publications and political quotas. It is the real face of planning in Sandwell, and the only truth they will ever admit in private. It will always be crap for residential. 

TIP ON YOUR HOMES. Gladstone Drive 1994. photo Robert Brook . This would go on for another 7 years!

Though white phosphorus was used for murderous purposes in the form of rat poison, its availability in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries made it a ridiculously easy suicide choice.

One such example is told in the 8th October 1896 Morecambe Visitor and concerns a sailor called Harry Gill. Gill had been arrested for jumping ship, but had admitted to taking poison containing P4 on board the HMS Gossamer. 

It does seem to have been a rather rash course of action for such a petty crime.

It’s been a while since we caught up with our old friend Tramp phosphorus aka Willy Peter who now hides in Rattlechain after fearing for his life from occasional visits from the Oldbury assassins from Trinity Street and then a group of Dutch men around 1o years ago. Luckily they weren’t volleyball players, so the local kids at least were safe.

We found the old scoundrel in surprisingly good form and now transitioning between solid and vapour state.

WLBRL So Tramp, we hear that you have been abroad recently, where did you go?

Tramp It all came as a complete surprise. I received a communique from President Macron himself! He apologised on behalf of the French People and the Fifth Republic for the actions of those blighters from Rhodia. I understand he gave Clamadieu a good dressing down after reading about my plight on your blog. 

WLBRL Wow! That’s incredible news, we had Lord Langley read our blog and now a president, we are indeed honoured. So what parlez did he offer you? 

Tramp It was a chance to play a part in the opening ceremony of the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad in gay Paris! He said he would fly me out there under water of course and would arrange for it to rain on the night so that I did not give off any garlic smells or spontaneously combust. The only snag was that I had to put on some blue face paint and a few assorted pieces of fruit to conceal my dignity. I said, “Emannie… (we’re on first name terms now), You just try and stop me.”

mesdames et messieurs?

WLBRL So you had a good meal then eh at the last supper?

Tramp Yes there was plenty of meat and two veg dished up by culinary chefs of Michelin status. The French do know how to put on a show. “Très Bien” and “Bon Apetit” I say. I was tempted to have a dip in The Seine, but they said it was too polluted already . LOL. 

WLBRL Did you get a chance to hold the flame or carry a torch? 

Tramp The plan was that I would link up with Tom (Cruise) at some point in the closing ceremony but it didn’t work out in the schedule. Emmie suggested that they would rename the “Tramps Elysees” in my honour and also give me the Doner.”

WLBRL You mean the Legion D’honneur – the highest merit honour in all of France?

Tramp. No, its called a “sandwich Grec” in Paris

WLBRL So what next, is it true that you are in training to take the place of Tom Daley in the pairs at Los Angeles in four years time? 

Tramp Yes, I am practising on the pier at the moment and have completed a double pike with two twists. After LA 2028, everyone will always remember Willy Peter from Oldbury for being the spark that led to the greatest golden shower for GB ever!

WLBRL Well that’s fabulous , we hope it all goes well for you. À beintôt! 

Earlier this week there was an announcement that read like an apocalypse had befallen The Walsall Canal with a “chemical spillage” considered so dangerous that 12 miles of surrounding connecting canal towpaths were closed and boat traffic shut off, effectively stranding anyone on a narrow boat from moving up or down three sets of locks.

As someone who is obviously acutely aware of the damage that chemicals can do in the environment and how these incidents destroy wildlife, I was very concerned about what had happened and feared the worst due to the measures being taken that the authorities were considered necessary. Other people were contacting me about the situation and were concerned about the effects on bird life on the canal system in the area.

What transpired was very poor information being released, particularly about WHAT chemical had been released into the canal, the circumstances and the QUANTITY and SOURCE, and the PATHWAY it had taken to reach the water. 

It was all a bit vague but it appeared that multiple agencies were involved including Walsall Council, the CRT and EA as well as The bizarre UKHSA- formerly Public Health England. For some reason, they were very keen that people did not touch the water, eat any fish from the canal or walk along the towpaths.

Eventually it was claimed that Sodium Cyanide had entered the canal, but no source or company named. This chemical obviously rings alarm bells with the public as a deadly poison, although it is actually less poisonous than white phosphorus found in Rattlechain lagoon, and which of course was spilt liberally into the canal system on route from Trinity Street to Rattlechain via the upper BCN toxic trail route. Were the canals closed then, and the boats stopped? NO THEY WERE NOT AS BRITISH WATERWAYS AS THEY THEN WERE WERE TOTALLY COMPLICIT IN CAUSING THE POLLUTION AND ENCOURAGING IT, EVEN USING ALBRIGHT AND WILSON’S VILE SHIT HOLE THEMSELVES AS A MEANS OF DUMPING THEIR OWN DREDGINGS TO CONTINUE THE GHASTLY BOAT TRAIL POLLUTING SPECTACLE. 

As for protecting public health, what a fucking joke when people involved in carrying the toxic waste by canal boat were harmed in the process, so what hope for any other bugger that touched or came into contact with the water, let alone any wildlife or fish?

Fast forward to 2024 and the Canal and Rivers Trust are now a charity and corporate PR brand. They are largely funded by fishing licences or fishing rights being sold and of course boat licences. The latter regularly cause widespread damage to wildlife with their toxic snail diesel and hydraulic oil releases- particularly in the Walsall area. Even recently this occurred and many birds died and yet no boats were stopped from moving by the CRT on some bloody “explorer cruise”- basically a jolly for elder people along a stretch of canal ending with a fish and chip supper at some pub. The hypocrisy could not be more stark, given that this particular incident did not effect any fish in the canal, just wildfowl. 

The EA are of course a longstanding joke also, as I regularly evidence in my unfortunate dealings in reporting issues to these hapless, unknowledgeable and talentless individuals. They were and are happy with a bunch of wankers dumping toxic waste under water under a useless licence auspice, even pumping it back into the canal blissfully unaware that they were doing so given they have no means of testing the water for the toxic chemical, but when some fish deaths occur it is suddenly a red alert for them.

Enter the bullshit classification system they use, which I looked at HERE. Of course when fish die they claim a “category 1” incident. For other areas that have no fish and no fish deaths they don’t care- hence Rattlechain and also Smethwick Hall Park caused by Severn Trent Water’s sewage pollution and failure to trace and stop misconnections entering the water. The hypocrisy and interest over the money making source for the EA and CRT could not be more stark. Fish matter because they are keeping these individuals in jobs, birds are not, and that is the bottom line. 

SODIUM CYANIDE- AN INFAMOUS POISON FROM THE PAST. 

I have previously looked at this chemical and how “deadly barrels” of it were dumped in the early 1970’s leading to the authorities starting to take environmental dumping more seriously. The West Midlands served as a particular hotspot with National news running a series of scares about what had in reality been occurring for too long. Marl holes and tips and brooks were easy dumping grounds for “people of the road” paid by scum companies to deposit their waste with no questions asked. Tatters with tippers were a common menace.

Both Rattlechain and Gower Tips had dumpings, with Albright and Wilson feigning ignorance which I frankly do not believe.

The following information is given by The UKHSA.

Sodium/Potassium Cyanide General information.

Sodium/Potassium Cyanide Incident management.

The properties of cyanide mean that it produces highly toxic breakdown chemicals when in contact with water.

Anochrome Limited- who are they?

Eventually and after an uncomfortable lack of information on the source, an electro plating company based a scant 100 metres from the canal were named. This industrial concern based in Reservoir Place, Walsall claims to have been operating on its website since 1946. It has three current directors, at least two of whom appear to be successors of a family line. Managing Director Mark Jones appears to have taken over from his father Andrew. Secretary Andrew Keery, and Robert Gray complete the triumvirate.

They have a number of subsidiary companies, including Wolverhampton Electro plating Limited based in Wolverhampton. It is of note that all three directors are now giving a care of address for this company rather than the one in Walsall. I take some interesting observations from this concerning the state of their finances and the future of “Anochrome limited” as an operation.

Historically, this company have form for polluting the environment via criminal negligence.

The 12th December 1978  Wolverhampton Express and Star reported how they had been fined a rather paltry £245 for cyanide and toxic metals going down the drains

In 1981, and via The Sandwell Evening Mail  of 27th June , we see a repeat performance of this , on this occasion a whopping £280 for illegal trade effluent discharges including zinc. This particular metal is of concern as it is a neurological poison to wild birds and people and is very similar to lead poisoning in high levels in this regard.

In 1992 there was a fire sparking another chemical alert with two staff needing treatment.

Sandwell Evening Mail 23/5/92

A more recent event reveals this company were fined by The HSE for breaches under The Health and Safety At Work Act. This was in 2018.

Of course, the three directors are ultimately responsible for all that goes on here, all that goes wrong on their site and anything that occurs illegally or by “accident”

Their parent company in Wolverhampton also has form for health and safety breaches. 

I am not certain if they are the electroplating company mentioned in THIS article concerning cyanide dumping, but it confirms the absolute lack of integrity of this industry at large in terms of failing to protect the environment and adhere to laws. Ultimately, they argue about quantities within “legal” limits. THE LIMITS OF COURSE SHOULD BE ZERO.

MY DIRECT OBSERVATIONS AND HEAD SCRATCHING ABOUT THIS INCIDENT BASED ON EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE ISSUES. 

There are some questions and issues which do not make sense to me about this incident which almost made me question as to if it is a hoax and a multi agency training exercise, just to keep the public under fear about something which is not really there.

• Police tape and plastic barriers stopping people from going down the towpath. If there was some deadly gas being given off or prospect of such then fair enough. BUT the road in Reservoir Place remains open to the public.
• Businesses in this road near to the canal were carrying on as normal. People were at work.  People stationed above the bridges stopping people going onto the towpath were not wearing any breathing apparatus, PPE or gloves. There sojourn there for a length of time is similarly puzzling if there is some major danger in this “epicentre” area. How were they measuring levels of gas being evolved- I saw nothing to monitor this.
• Work on the highly contaminated former Copper Works immediately next to the claimed effected canal continues apace with vehicles and staff coming and going from John Hunt who are carrying out the work to facilitate industrial units on the reclaimed “brownfield” site. Of course, what fate the canal has when these industries move in next door we will have to wait and see. Hopefully they will not be dealing in chemicals, FFS!

No “pandemics” or pollution spills stop the construction industry where politicians and their cronies have laid their nest eggs

• The Anochrome building appears to be being decommissioned. This ties in with the change of C/O address on the Companies house website for the directors. There is Heras fencing blocking the site, and people again wearing only  basic PPE and not hazmat suits, including a security guard obviously there to stop journalists asking pointed questions of anyone there. Crap was being loaded into a skip, and I do not believe that this had anything to do with any spillage of a company still at work in this building.

Lettering has been removed from the building recently.

• There were the press and people from CRT giving interviews on the bridge without any apparent danger to health, and certainly no adverse health effects were observed by myself when I was there.
• A few dead fish. I have seen major fish deaths along canals- caused by boaters stirring up silt and by pollution from Companies like Robinson’s– again this was The Walsall Canal. Having cycled from  Walsall town centre I saw no dead fish, and none in any distress. Only on reaching Reservoir Place were there any dead fish, and these were small. To suggest that this has been a “major” fish kill as it stands is not supported by factual evidence, is misinformation and a made up lie. 

• I observed no dead or ill birds, either on route to the epicentre or at it itself. Indeed, ducks were dabbling right next to the few dead fish, making me question if the spillage is one of bullshit and little else?

Ducks in the “deadly” water next to the “poisoned” fish

• It was stated by someone from the CRT that they had been told they could not remove the fish because of the toxicity of the water and the fish themselves. I asked if any dead birds had been seen or removed and the answer was in the negative. This is of concern and questionable, as would not fish eating birds be poisoned if they eat the “poisoned” fish?
• Compare this to the rather slow testing they claim to be doing on the canal at various locations. Surely if they thought there was imminent risk they would have a much quicker turnover of results now days later?
• The only gas I could see being emitted is one of gaslighting the public that something major has occurred here affecting such a wide area. That is not my direct observation and the evidence does not support that it has.
• Just to state that any pollution issue like this is a disgrace and the book should be thrown at Anochrome and its directors for their failure.
• Is this an opportunity for certain players to blow their own trumpets, like the covid 19 hoax frit civil service, who for the last 4 years hiding under a rock and shirking from home pop up to attempt to justify a pay increase that they have some actual importance in society when a magic money tree Labour Government get in? Of course, good socialists , junior doctors and anyone involved in the mysterious world of fake doctor “public health” want everything you have in the private sector on top of their gold plated pensions- that is except your job which would involve them doing some actual fucking work where they might be sacked if they had the amount of time off that they  have on permanent maternity leave or some other stubbed toe or bad back/”long covid”/mental elf made up condition excuse.
• I’m just waiting for some fucking clown to link or attempt to link this incident to “climate change” Give it time- they usually find some bizarre and irrational means of doing so to justify their warped insane cult of doom and “faith” in scientists and academia saving them.

We live in an age of fear mongering, of “forbidden zones” and scenarios like the film The Village where instruction not to do something appears with asinine bellows of “you shall not pass”. It is the liberal left – those in the civil service, who appear to think we are fucking stupid and should not question their bizarre nonsensical diktats like not crossing a line of tape because The Emperor’s new calamity will befall us and to “trust the science” because that is unquestionable. Well it is questionable and I question it for the reasons stated above which do not add up. This is not “conspiracy” it is common sense, something which appears to have gone out of the window of late and is fuelled by a media clamouring for such events to report on. They should be questioning this as I am, but they don’t because they are crap and parrots of the New World Order that is being forged.

Many sections of the canal have now been opened back up, and it remains to be seen what will happen with the area still closed off and under scrutiny. 4,000 litres of chemicals were spilt according to the latest EA update, which is roughly about 22 baths worth. For the birds, they will carry on probably affected more by the boats that will now be moving again and spreading their shite as rainbows on the water. Will the CRT or EA care about that? So long as no fish are affected will they fuck.

Another polluted canal in Walsall, of the type of pollution that is not economically viable to draw attention to because no fish are affected.

WHO PUT NELLIE IN THE MARL HOLE?

The West Midlands region was famous for its Etruria marl pits, and those like Rattlechain were many across its towns. They were very dangerous places to work as we know, but also attracted many children who perished by misadventure after drowning in the flooded remnants. The Vono Lagoon very near to Rattlechain was one such more recent example.

Many of these industrial undertakings became abandoned before being bought by the very worst industrial dumping waste scumbags like Albright and Wilson.  Most have now been lost to history and are now car parks and even housing estates hiding a sinister past of misery and despair. It is little wonder that the abandoned holes in the land were also magnets for suicide.

This occasional series will look at some of the stories behind these former marl holes, and if they can be identified, what remains of them today or what they became.

Between the wars there is no doubt that marl holes began to fade from brickmaking use. The 30th July 1931 Dudley Chronicle reported the death of a young woman named Nellie Colwell.

Nellie 21, was from Tividale and lived on The Dudley Road with her parents. The article states that she was found dead in “Sheldon’s marl hole”. This name rings immediate alarm bells in relation to The Lower City Road conman Sidney, who deliberately ran down brickmaking at Rattlechain post WW2 to sell off land. I aware that he had a brother, but not if there was a longer chain if you’ll excuse the pun of a family brickmaking dynasty. There is a little mystery however, and I doubt if this was Rattlechain brickworks marl hole as at this time at least, Rattlechain was still officially run by the sons of Samuel Barnett- at least in name. We also know that the pit was filled with water because she drowned, suggesting that this was an abandoned site not in use.

My best guess is that it refers to the Vono lagoon as it became or even the former sports pool where the Autobase carpark is now situated?

Her family worked at Edwin Danks , an Oldbury based boiler maker, and she herself had started work there from the age of 16. There are a few observations with this article and I will make them as we go along.

The presentation and subsequent phoney psychological term “neurasthenia” is typical of these fake psychotherapy quacks and the time. This is a time when shysters sold “nerve tonics” to poison people with, just as big pharma does now with their clot shot vaccines and antidepressants. Of course the whole psychiatry industry wants as many people as possible to have “mental illness” so they can diagnose falsely and prescribe more drug filth in greater doses. They are handsomely rewarded for this fraud by big pharma for every sucker they sign up and are reliant on hypochondriacs believing that they are “ill”.

It may well have been the case that Nellie was “depressed”, but there is no evidence presented that proves she committed suicide or drank or took any drugs before her death. This remember is at a time when swallowing white phosphorus poison, widely available, was a common form of suicide. The article and diagnosis by the coroner “she seems to have done away with herself”  is also typical of a period where women were locked up for being non compliant or affected by some imagined mental illness. This third rate pillock was certainly no Quincy FFS! Where is the actual post mortem report, was she confirmed to have drowned based on physiological evidence?

I am not sure why if she committed suicide she would have gone to the trouble of removing her shoes or leaving anything behind? Could she swim? Maybe that is another question the coroner should have asked.

And so enter the token mystery man of letters whom the prat recording her death does not even attempt to identify or name or if she had ever met him in person. He could have lured her to her death, covered up the murder by dumping the body in the pit and staging the elaborate placing of belongings behind. Maybe I read too many detective novels. 😆

In conclusion it remains a mystery nearly 100 years later as to why Nellie Colwell died on her way to work. My own belief is that she did not intend to kill herself that day, but we will never know how she entered the marl hole or if there were any sinister events leading up to it. A marl hole would have been a good place to dump a body and claim a depressed young woman had killed herself. Someone may well have got away with murder.