Everything that was nice about it has been destroyed, temporarily I hope, and despite assurance from Mr Ian Hart that it would really not be very different , this is the depressing sight that greeted us last Sunday.
Click this link and Judge for yourself.
This is the path that Willow and I walked almost daily for years.
Further along there was a locked gate in a wall. Sometimes we sneaked through to a lovely linear wilderness.
Now the gate is open and access is freely available but I just don't want it.
The path is a straight line from one end of the valley to the other with no tree branch at lower level so the poor cyclists and horse riders won't be impeded.
Withnell Parish Council have laid down and let Lancashire County Council walk all over them.
(I could print the email which says that some of them objected but to no avail.)
Our council tax has paid for this.
Fortunately on the other side of the Goit is a more acceptable path.
A sheep track with old trees with beautiful gnarled roots
uneven and full of stones, and deep puddles and mud in places.
Just what you expect in the countryside.
19 comments:
They call it 'progress' don't they? :( x
a good rant, but not what I thought it would be.
Good post Jackie. It's happening here as well, only by "conservationists" with council support - tracks big enough to get a car down ( and set fire to ) big, ugly metal signs, "welcoming" you to the nature reserve, boxes hanging from trees etc. The final straw, chopping down trees, erecting fences in a public wood, to protect the badger sett. This has been disused for at least ten years. The badgers are across the other side!!! They used my favourite, dead, fungus bearing log as a chopping block. I could go on, but what's the point.
Hmm, I've found horses are better at negotiating rough paths and low branches than people. Many a time I've been smacked in the face by a branch whilst the horse's head passed unscathed underneath. That's just me not paying attention though, they shouldn't be cut away.
This is an interesting post, and I'm sure you'll get debate. I guess it all boils down to what people use the countryside for.
I can totally understand making access freely available, and easier for buggies and prams for people who want some freedom and fresh air, but too much ease of access and I suppose you get the unappreciative people too.
It's a hard call.
Maybe it should be left untouched, and the people who make the effort to visit in that state see it for what it really is and how it should be?
Best wishes
Dan
it's always so sad when the splendor of nature is destroyed, sorry that you have had to witness the destruction of such natural beauty :(
it's all health and safety bollocks -excuse my French.
I hate change too
It just sucks. Sorry, but I couldn't think of anything else that describes it adequately. I'm sad for you that one of you daily pleasures has been destroyed. Maybe they'll decide that it's too expensive to maintain and it will go wild again. They're closing parks here because of the expense of maintaining them.
Why do the powers-that-be find it necessary to tidy nature up? A lovely wild woodland walk can't be improved upon and riders and cyclists could always look where they are going. I fully sympathise with you over this - apart from anything else it is just a waste of money.
I'm almost speechless and pity anyone who trips and falls on the cruel stones lining the first path pictured. Dear oh dear!
I had to come and read your rant, and I totally agree with you. WHY do politicians feel they have to ruin natural beauty in order to make 'improvements' (NOT!). It really makes my blood boil.
It's a beautiful place... America is full of those places ruined in the name of urban expansion. I won't get started but I feel bad that another simple natural place is being destroyed ;-(
It's a sad, sad world.
Don't they notice all the news and tv programmes about sustainability, people moving out of urbanisation to embrace country life again, the celebrity chefs promoting small holdings and living with the land. One day everything will be so urbanised and re-developed that there won't be a chance to go back and embrace what countryside was really like. Why can't they just leave what is left of the countryside alone, and let people enjoy nature at its upmost best.
As an animal lover myself, I feel you are also mourning the loss of so many happy memories with Willow, and your walk along those paths gave you a connection to him, now they've taken that away.
It must be a double blow to you, and I feel your despair.
Embrace your memories and hold them close, nothing can ever take them away.
Sorry these comments are so hard to read. I don't know how to change the background.
I have to admit that it isn't finished yet but how can this be improved?
Its the wide open-ness I object to and the scale of it.
So sad.
Why don't they concentrate on the bloody great pot holes in the road instead?
It's not much consolation but at least I cannot see any litter in your photos. When i go out in the mornings with my little four-legged friend we always come back with a bag full of plastic bottles and discarded cans!
It defies comprehension...
Don't get me going on this one! I know it's not a bridle path but locally we have several pavements that are for pedestrians,cyclists and horse riders; whilst responsible dog owners are expected to (and do) remove their animal's solid waste products do the horse riders? Do they heck as like. What do they use their saddle bags for?
How awful! Next thing you know you will find traffic lights and double yellow lines! Why can't they leave nature alone. Its very sad.:(
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