stevetheangler

On the Staffs-Worcs Canal this morning in the Wombourne area with the blade spinners and 6.5cm Savage Gear Soft 4Play lures.

3 locations visited – Botterham Lock, Bumblehole Lock to Bratch Lock and Awbridge Lock although I did not even wet a line at the latter because I was so incensed that I may have thrown someone in but it really wouldn’t have been his fault so I turned away and came home.

Anyway, not one touch or follow anywhere at all…

Reason for getting uptight?

Yet again, on the banks, the seemingly extremely over-financed corporation of vandals known as ‘The Canal And River’ Trust’ who seem to have nothing better to do than to spend, in my reckoning, £1million pounds per week on grass cutting. I’m not going to repeat a rant – but here’s the one I have made earlier…

Back at the canal today – and it was nice to see that the Canal & River Trust Angling has money to throw away – today they must have spent spent near on £1000 on a 1 mile stretch of canal needlessly cutting and generally vandalising. So magnify that by the miles of canal in the country and we’re easily talking £1,000,000 a week!!!

Cause for this feeling – fished 3 sections of the Staffs-Worcs Canal all within 1 mile of each other and at each section there were teams of grass cutters armed with mowers and strimmers and intent on making the canal banks look like a golf club green… this is mid-December, when the vegetation is dying back anyway and longest piece of veg. was probably 6″ long before mowing…. And who mows in December anyway??? My own lawns are NEVER cut after Sept 30th nor until the end of May. And estimated costs 8 hour day at £10 (min) per hour = £80 per person x 10 C&RT staff = £800 PLUS cost of petrol for mowers/strimmers/wear& tear/etc.

In my view the only ‘trimming’ required AT ANY TIME OF THE YEAR on a canal is within 12″ of the sides of hardcore/gravel path – not several yards into the hedgerow… and not within 2 metres of the canal bank itself, the boating fraternity are well capable of trampling down a passage from boat to path which will regenerate quickly once the boat moves on. 

To me, it would be far far better to leave as undisturbed as possible for the use of the wildlife (flora and fauna) – and no costs involved!! And to me, the £1,000,000 a week spent on this corporate vandalism would be far better being given to our cash starved NHS and education systems!!! Thus the environment wins, the wildlife wins and the NHS/education get improved!!

I’m going now – try to get my thoughts focused elsewhere as I’m just getting angrier second by second thinking of this.