21 November 2011
This morning's front page story in the Dorktown News is of an international swimming gala that was supposed to be happening at the Pingles leisure centre here in Dorktown. It seems that it has been cancelled for 'technical reasons' to do with the pool ... but that is as far as I got because they ran out of room on the front page. The story is not continued inside the paper so I don't know what those reasons are. Shame that ... I'm not a swimmer but I can understand the disappointment of those involved and the wasted effort they will have put in. I hope they can get it sorted.
Jan and I know a prolific burglar here in Dorktown. He has a criminal record that was quite a surprise to us when we heard about it. Last time Jan spoke to him he said he was trying to keep his nose clean, so when I read in the News that burglaries in the town had dropped by half my comment to Jan was that perhaps he wasn't lying for once. But what a wasted life! He is an excellent artist. If only he could stop thieving and take up art in some way to make a living he would do very well. Sad enit?
As most of you know, Jan and I like birdwatching. But we have a slight problem in that we both have mobility problems and have to use a scooter to get around. That's OK when we when we are going off down town but most birding site are not very scooter friendly. One of our local sites is Brandon Marsh on the outskirts of Coventry. There's a solid path around part of the site which is fine for scooters but access to the best hides are not suitable at all. The main problem lies within the name, "Marsh". The site is the remains of an old gravel pit with the River Avon running along the side of it. Top and bottom of it is that most of the paths are narrow and can't be widened to allow access. This is not the fault of Warwickshire Wildlife Trust (http://www.warwickshire-wildlife-trust.org.uk/home.aspx ), hasten to add. They have done as much as possible to help and make access as fair as possible.
However, the same problem occurs at birding sites all over the country. Last week we were at Gibraltar point and they have made access a priority apart from two place where steps hinder access. Titchwell on the North Norfolk coast is well adapted for scooter users, as is most of Cley just along the coast. Hickling Broad isn't so good. There's a board walk around the site but it so narrow and a scooter will take up most of the width of it. Trying to pass other birders going the other way around would be difficult. But paths are not the only problem.
In a number of such sites access to hides is difficult when there are steps up to the doorway. The RSPB site at Welches Damn is one such site as well as Blacktoft Sands which have stairs inside to get to the best views. A lot of the at the Wetland Trust sites also have stairs inside of them to get to the best viewing points. So what are we disabled birders to do then? I don't know but thinking of the travelling distances involved to where there are full access sites, which is tiring in itself, there has to be an answer somewhere!
Today is shopping day. So we will be off to Asda to do our normal weekly shop. For some time now we have been buying what we need as we need it. That's OK of course but not cost effective really. I'm going to try to get us back to a proper shopping day again. Makes life easier that way.
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