Cleaning Up The Town

Last year I became dismayed with the condition of some of our town's assets. They were overgrown, dirty, badly degraded and in need of attention. I have done several years' voluntary work for the National Trust so I know that buildings and parkland need constant maintenance. My qualifications include NVQ Level 2 Conservation (hedge laying, dry stone walling, habitat maintenance), so I decided to clean up the town.

The first thing on my list was Coneygore Lane Footpath. Brambles and vegetation were making it virtually impassable. I started at the top and worked my way down the lane cutting a nice clear way.

Next was Cash's Park. Here the vegetation and brambles were encroaching on the path and spoiling the view. Also a large patch of brambles at the top of the park were unsightly and starting to choke the trees and shrubs. I removed all the offending brambles and vegetation. One can now walk or sit down in the park and enjoy an unspoilt view in all directions.

I then turned my attention to Waterside footpath. Between the Old George Inn and the Old Town Mill the path was covered with dead vegetation, dust and dirt. This I have now removed.

The fourth thing on my list was the Riverbank below Waterside. The area on both sides of the river was clogged with ivy and brambles. I managed to get the Council to remove the brambles on the east bank. On the west bank, no-man's land, I removed the excess of brambles and ivy myself.

My next task was Shatterwell Shoots. After many years of neglect it was covered with lime scale, dirt and mud, and vegetation was creeping in from all sides. I have tidied up the whole area and the spring water is now as clear as crystal. If anyone knows how to get the lower outlet pipe working, do let me know. I would love to see it back in action. To finish off the area I still need to paint the bollard in black and to match the ones in front of the post office.

The next thing on my list... who knows? However I am quite pleased with my results so far.

Adam Bailey

Comments

johnbaxter
Posts: 1

Cleaning Up The Town
Reply #1 on : Fri May 27, 2011, 14:35:48

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Adam your efforts are terrific. I am sure everyone appreciates what you have done and your example will hopefully encourage more of us to do some volunteering. I am sure you must feel real satisfaction seeing parts of our environment looking good as a result of your work.

Perhaps others might add to the comments so we can draw up a list of similar projects in need of attention and perhaps we can set up a team who would like to work with Adam.
If you feel inspired to get involved please drop into the Town Hall and leave your name and contact address with Sam Skirton or Muriel Cairns and we will get back to you.

suzy
Posts: 1

Re: Cleaning Up The Town
Reply #2 on : Fri May 27, 2011, 20:13:03

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WOW well done Adam, its great to see someone actually do something that needs to be done rather than just talk about it.

Helping_hand
Posts: 1

Cleaning Up The Town
Reply #3 on : Mon May 30, 2011, 21:55:09

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Well done, I think if there were more people like you alot more places would be in more of a decent order. It is so nice to hear that someone cares about the things around them.

Nick Colbert
Posts: 1

Cleaning Up The Town
Reply #4 on : Fri June 03, 2011, 16:43:19

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A fantastic job, it seems to me most work of this sort only usually gets done following a series of complaints to one authority or another. For one man to take it on is a great example to everyone, hopefully it will encourage others to take pride in the wonderful area we live in.

Victor Meldrew
Posts: 1

Cleaning up the Town
Reply #5 on : Fri July 29, 2011, 18:57:08

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Well done Adam. It is a pity though that you had to do the work yourself, instead of getting onto the District and County Councils.Mind you, they would wait until the next finacial year and then tell you there was no maoney avaliable. Also the river should be the Enviroment Agency. It is a pity that District Councilors in the past always ignored the problems, along with Dept managers!
It`s a pity that certain people think that monies raised in South Somerset are for the sole use of Yeovil!!

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