Dog ownership at its worst

WELL spring has sprung with leaves hanging from branches, flowers hanging from their stalks... and bags of dog mess hanging in undergrowth.

I don’t know whether it is the sudden flush of green in hedgerows which draws the eye to these prime examples of dog ownership at its worst.

Whatever the reason, it destroys some of the pleasure on the walk down Lorton Lane towards the nature reserve and there can be no excuses.

All the bags we saw hanging in brambles or scrub were less than 100 metres from a waste bin prominently signed as being suitable for bagged dog waste.

On the sunny day we were out (yes, there are still sunny days) we met or saw dozens of dogs and their owners, so the area is clearly a hotspot for walking pets.

Unfortunately it has also become a hotspot for those dog owners too exhausted to carry a small bag a short distance, people who feel that slinging it away somehow absolves them from responsibility.

What do they think happens next? Does the tooth fairy somehow come out as darkness falls and clean up after them? No, the bags will just stay there until they and complaints collect in such quantity that the council will be forced to act.

That leaves the rest of us forced to fume at the unsavoury antics of the few.

Pedestrians’ puddle problem

USING paviors to cover large sections of Weymouth town centre is a good idea up to a point.

For some time now pedestrians have walked on this new surface which does allow any utility work to be carried out by simply lifting a few blocks, doing the work and then relaying them which has to be better than unsightly patches all over the place.

However, there are drawbacks to paviors which are invisible for most of the time until it rains.

Then pedestrians have an almost impossible task picking their way through puddles in surface dips presumably caused by heavy vehicles forcing the paviors down.

The other weekend was a classic with heavy rain leading to puddles on almost every pavement right through the town centre.

It was impossible to walk in a straight line as pedestrians were forced to weave in and out of numerous pools of water.

The problem for the authorities is that unless they go out and mark the worst points when it’s wet then they can’t find them when it’s dry and they might be planning to deal with them.

It is certainly work which needs doing unless we are going to be granted a heatwave summer... and I wouldn’t bet on that.

Weymouth is still Weymouth

CONDOR is due to resume ferry sailings from Weymouth in July, so it will be interesting to see whether their request for council work to help smooth their flow of vehicles bears any fruit.

For those of you with memories long enough to recall when Condor last operated in town, the language of drivers snarled up on the seafront needed no interpretations, although I wasn’t aware Weymouth had so many people without fathers.

Since then a lot has happened with new harbour wall this, new harbour building that and new harbour facilities the other. What hasn’t changed is that Weymouth is still Weymouth.

That means the capacity to shoot itself in the foot can never be underestimated and you have to ask yourself the question, even if alterations are made to help ferry traffic, how is it going to cope with the town’s new traffic system?

Strangely enough, there may be fewer potential problems than might first appear because the King Street-Swannery lights heavily favour traffic travelling from the seafront.

So, shall we all hold our breath. Less than ten weeks until Condor sailings start and we find out if it’s unlock or gridlock.

Mysterious castle missing from map

A WEYMOUTH man went on holiday to Scotland and began to sample its spectacular walking and scenery.

He enjoyed a number of rewarding days but one of the highlights came when he walked over the brow of a hill to see the ruins of a castle stunningly laid out before him.

It took his breath away and, wondering what the castle was called, he consulted his large scale map.

Several minutes passed and he could neither find the name nor any indication on the map that a castle even existed there.

Confused, he asked his local companion about the ruin and, with a smile, was told to walk down the hill a bit.

When he’d done so he could finally see all the scaffolding. 

The castle had been constructed for a film and there was nothing behind the facade except metal poles and air!

www.viewfromonline.co.uk