I notice today from Warren Parry’s excellent Ogley Dirt Farmer blog that somebody has blocked the public right of way from Engine Lane, Brownhills onto the off-road section of National Cycle Route 5 towards the canal on the old mineral line. This is a worrying development.
Click on the screenshot to visit the original article.
Warren has also pointed out that someone seems to be keeping cattle on the land there. Whilst there is farmland adjacent, I’m wondering if these are the same cows I’ve noticed being grazed in a field off Green Lane Walsall Wood recently. They’re only a small herd – about 7 or 8. They’ve been in a pasture there that’s been fallow for some time, but I’ve only seen them there on a couple of occasions, and I’m not sure it’s been entirely legitimate. A notice posted on the gate (now removed) by Natural England warned that animal grazing there was notifiable since the SSSI notification.
Image by Warren Parry. Click to visit his blog post.
I will check the Engine Lane situation out when I can, hopefully some time tomorrow. Since the barriers were added at Apex Road and up at Brownhills West, motorbike scrambling there has all but ceased, so I’d be surprised if that were the cause of the chain, and I’d be equally shocked were it Stevie Ansell’s handiwork, as it would surely obstruct her riders.
On the subject of the riding school, I have no problem with it either, as it’s presence seems to be keeping ASB down, and it is nice to feel folk are around up there. Sadly, the flytipping seems to continue unabated.
The chain and barbed are are concerning, and I shall complain to the council and Sustrans on Monday. It’s wrong to block a public right of way, whatever the motivation.
Cheers to Warren for spotting this, and do check out his blog while you’re over there. He writes some great stuff.