I stopped to look at one of the culverts yesterday – very well made with stone walls lining the water course. I think it may belong to the water authority & be connected to the reservoir– I have occasionally seen a man who looks like a water bailiff or some such, patrolling it in his waders
But not for some time, & it is looking in a bit of a sorry state, not least because it got badly damaged last year when one of the big old sycamores keeled over & smashed a part of the wall
There is quite a lot of stone & other debris lying in the water, but then I noticed that one looked a bit different. I changed my angle to get a better look – it is a lump of tactile paving. Someone holds it in the same sort of contempt as I do
But where could it have come from? None of the bits laid along the main road, when all local authorities had that mad frenzy this time last year (or was it the year before) in response no doubt to some government diktat, target or bribe, was missing
Then, with sinking heart, I realised that those bits where they had been digging up the pavement last week were not, as I had fondly hoped, a sign of the coming of the fibre optic, but yet more blister stuff in any last remaining spot where someone might be crossing ‘the roadway’ – including the bit just as you get to the yard at the side of the pub which is used as a car park – for about 3 cars. And just to add to the fun, it is right outside the gate of the house next door – someone will get their teeth rattled when they put the wheelie bin out
I thought the world had gone completely mad when I saw they were even marking out a space on what seemed like a random piece of pavement, until I realised there was a matching spot directly over the road
They are obviously marking a place for a pedestrian crossing near the bus stop!
No sign yet whether it is going to be controlled by traffic lights – I would have thought lines of sight, particularly for traffic coming towards the village, would have been insufficient. But then I still have not really got used to how efficient car brakes are these days – how quickly, quietly, & skid mark free, they can come to a stop
