News .. February and March 2011
It seems much more than two months since I wrote our last article for Kidsgrove News and even longer since the last residents' association meeting. This winter seems to have gone on for ever .. I think due to the dull, damp overcast weather; on a positive note, by the time you read this article we will be into Spring and should have turned our clocks forward, benefitting from the longer days.
The attendance at our January meeting, of fifty residents and guests, was an encouraging start to the year for our new chairman Chris Brough. For a full report on the business of the meeting see our WEB site.
Our guest speaker was Philip Leese and his topic for the evening was ‘Kidsgrove and the Local Canal System'. We learnt about the importance of Kidsgrove as a place on the canal network and that it actually would not exist if it were not for the canals and the building of the Brindley tunnel, starting in 1766 and completed in 1777. The canal brought prosperity to Kidsgrove and the Clough Hall estate, and it soon became evident that a second wider tunnel was needed; Thomas Telford was commissioned to build this tunnel which was started in 1824 and finished three years later. With the introduction of the railway system the amount of canal traffic declined and the tunnel was last commercially used in 1976. Philip concluded his talk by saying that the canal is now used for leisure - fishing and canal holidays, with the towpaths used by walkers and cyclist.
Philip's presentation was of particular interest to me since I regularly walk on the canal towpaths, which bring a totally different perspective to the Kidsgrove area and nearby countryside. Walking is a great outdoor activity, giving the opportunity to experience the changing seasons and see the birds and wildlife in the area. Unfortunately this experience is so often spoilt by the amount of litter and rubbish thoughtlessly thrown away by a minority group of people.
I looked up a few facts about rubbish on the Keep Britain Tidy WEB site .. http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/
30 million tons of litter is collected from our streets every year
£858 million pounds cost to us as council tax payers.
2.25 million pieces of litter dropped every day.
700,000 bags of litter removed from road networks every year.
What is the matter with us ... why don't we respect our own environment?!
Clough Hall is not immune to the problem of litter, so we decided do some Spring cleaning. A litter pick was arranged, concentrating on two woodland areas, which resulted in three pickup trucks of rubbish and debris being removed (including over 30 bags of drink cans and wrappings). Our thanks to Greg (NUBC) and his men for their help with litter picking and cleaning out the stream and to the association members who attended ... more litter picks are to be carried out shortly. We were pleased to hear from the environmental officers that there was evidence of wildlife retuning to the stream running through woods adjacent to Clough Hall Park, an indication of good water quality. Since the formation of the residents' association a lot of effort has been put into tidying up these areas and it is good to see that our efforts are rewarded in this way.
Meetings are held at Hollinwood Sheltered Housing, Hollinwood Close starting at 7.15pm.
Date for the next meeting is Tuesday May 3rd 2011, guest speaker : - tba