Isn't this so much nicer than the green plastic ones now in use in most places, left to get battered and broken, real eyesores I think, around the footpaths. This is just lovely:
I got to the woods, and sadly found a HUGE galvanised gate had been put across my usual thoroughfare, tightly padlocked, and fenced on each side; I could have climbed over, but I was shocked and saddened enough for the shine to be taken off, and turned around and left. This is the other side of that gate, where I would wander for hours, looking for mushrooms, seeing if I could spot a deer or two, just enjoying the peace and quiet and the magic that you get in broad leafed woods:
This has happened because of two old busy bodies in the village with nothing better to do than poke their nose into other people's business. One young lad, with a young family to support and not much work about, was going up to the woods, picking up sticks and branches, cutting them and selling them on to friends and neighbours; he took a little quad bike thing up there, loaded up his trailer and took it off home for cutting etc. Now, fair enough, these are private woods in that as far as I am aware they belong to the Estate, and I don't approve of stealing in any way, shape or form, but the amount he was taking (and from what I saw on his trailer when I met him was all fallen stuff, brash, sticks, bits of branches, certainly not on a commercial scale) would not, in my eyes, do any harm at all. These two women reported him to the Parish Council and were promptly told it was nothing to do with Parish Council business, so it got taken to the Estate, who have now seen fit to take this action with the gate. Thus, it's now been spoiled for many local people; now, I can get over the gate and back again, but not with my wheelie basket full of kindling that I collect regularly every autumn, as I have posted on here; but what about the older folks who took their dogs up there for a run? Surely there is enough to go round for everyone? If these two old nosey doots were in the lad's position, surely they would work as hard as he does to put food on the table and a roof over his family's head? I'm at a loss with this one, and if I see either of them I will tell them my thoughts whether they like it or not. As a result, mushrooms were off my agenda for the afternoon, sadly. However, there was plenty else to look at:
I even fitted in a bit of cloudspotting!
On the way back down the lane I filled the basket with windfall apples from an overhanging tree, brambles, rosehips and the last handful of wild elderberries, which are just about to go on to the stove for the makings of hedgerow jelly.
I hope those two old women can sleep easy in their beds, because I don't think I could.
6 comments:
What a shame when things get spoiled like that! It really saddens me, I often wonder at these kind of people who obviously have so little to keep themselves occupied they must find ways of ruining someone elses day.
Crikey the young lad was probably helping the woods in a way by clearing out fallen stuff and making way for new growth.
I agree Sarah that is so annoying.
I know what it is like as I work for our Parish Council. Similarly there are two old ladies in our parish (who come to every meeting!!!!!!!!!)and are always complaining.
Their current one is that the bins in the cemetery were not being emptied. So they complained to County Council and got them involved. In truth the fantastic young man who does our cemetery maintenance goes every week to empty them - but they get there first and leave nothing for him to take!! In winter he's only paid for 4 hours - so obviously he can't be there night and day. Honestly I could scream sometimes.
Glad you had a nice afternoon anyway.
Petty minded people! They seem to get everywhere don't they?
I remember as a child in England blackberrying,mushrooming etc with my family.The land(s) we went on was owned by "someone" but nobody ever complained, there was always plenty to go round.
Jane
So sad. Whatever happened to live and let live?
We have the urban equivalent in our road, they reported me (twice)for burning logs in a smokeless zone, I think there are two people with real fires or log burners in our road, back in the day I can understand why they had smokeless zones but these days, who burns Coal? but the council guys were cool about it until the second time she went over their heads and complained to the chief exec...
now we are forced to buy and burn coal, how wrong is that?
I wonder if you wrote to the estate and put the counter argument it might make a difference? They might have assumed everybody felt like the busybodies and taken the line of least resistance. Kick up a fuss! Very annoying for you. Glad you had a nice time anyway.
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