onionbagblog

I stopped off at the Trail entrance to Ferry Marsh early one morning this week. The plan was to capture on camera what appears to be a sprinkling of broken green glass all along the path around to West Quay; the plan was to write another angry blog post all about the continued disregard for our natural habitat by the Environment Agency. The plan was to get my online knickers in a twist.

Best laid plans, ‘n all that.

Thankfully the day job has kept me rather busy this week. I didn’t find the time to rant and rave all about the latest move by the EA on the stretch of land overlooking Rowhedge.

Which is just as well really - the photos are rather pathetic and the glass isn’t nearly as bad as I first thought. There may even be some logic in spreading tiny fragments of broken green bottles all along Ferry Marsh.

My early fears were that this would make the path impassable for cyclists, something which *possibly* was the plan all along. Apparently cycling isn’t permitted (or at least is heavily frowned upon) all the way along Ferry Marsh.

But then what of the safety of young children wanting to walk and play along the path? In a dedication to the cause that goes way beyond the call (and sanity) of duty, lovely Wivenhoe Forum (whadya mean you still haven’t joined blah blah blah) member Marika walked bare foot along Ferry Marsh.

Blimey.

She survived in tact. I have my suspicions that she may have even enjoyed it.

And then as the week passed, more details came my about the logic of all the tiny fragments of glass along Ferry Marsh. With a heads up to Moira, a member of the Wivenhoe Wood Working Party passed on the following information:

“I was working in the Ferry Marsh yesterday and that gave me the chance to see footpath 10 since the Environment Agency cleared all the blackthorn and re-surfaced it. It’s now topped first with a clay sub-strate and then granite chippings on top. There was a constant stream of people in each direction, mainly, of course, walkers, but also bikers, including young girls, and at least one wheel chair user.

Despite all the criticism, I feel that these people would not have been able to use the path prior to its “rebuild”, so I feel that it has been a very positive move. Incidentally, [x] was there and complained that the stone chippings included lots of little pieces of glass, which she could see when the sun shone on it.

We explained that this was almost certainly mica, a common mineral included in granite, and unlikely to cut her dog’s feet. The Ranger in charge of the Woods working party has offered to erect a bench or two along that stretch of Row 10 unless there are any objections. It would probably be in six to ten weeks’ time.”

So yeah - it’s not so much tip toeing on broken glass, but counting my blessings that I didn’t put my size tens (eights actually) in and bang on about the situation.

I still miss the blackberry, rosehip and sloe bushes. But if this allows a wheelchair user to experience some sense of the natural beauty, then this may be the price we have to pay.