Disturbed at devastation of canal
I write to you with reference to your piece in the Rutland Times regarding the "damage" at Oakham Canal.
I have lived in Rutland for 27 years and probably 25 of them have been spent on Burley Crescent, which is across the road from the canal.
During this time I have walked daily with my dog and in the past fished it regularly.
I was quite incensed at the comments made by Mr Garfoot about the supposed damaged to the bank/towpath by dog walkers.
This towpath has been walked (undamaged I hasten to add) by thousands of people over the years without hassle or fear of legal action.
The angling society in its previous guise never had trouble before, so why now?
At the end of winter a working party, led by Mr Garfoot, set about making the canal "a haven for wildlife, walkers and fishermen" this was covered by your paper.
I was fooled into thinking this would be a general tidy up. I even bought a fishing licence to show my support (I didn't even have any fishing tackle at the time).
Unfortunately I have been disturbed at the devastation caused by the said working party.
Trees have been unnecessarily ripped out, bushes burned and the surrounding undergrowth decimated.
All at a time when birds were beginning to nest and other animals emerging from hibernation.
Last summer I walked most nights with my three year-old daughter along the towpath to see and feed swans, geese and ducks.
The said birds were firstly driven away, then ropes strung across from one side of the canal to the other for the full length to "protect fish stocks from cormorants" preventing these birds ever being able to return as they cannot land in the water. I am not alone in my views as I also speak for many of my neighbours, and judging by the letter, other locals feel the same way too.
Lee Clithero
Oakham
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Weather for Oakham
Monday 28 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 17 C
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