Mucky Pups

I really don’t like fly tipping, fast food junk on roadside verges and chewing gum splodges on pavements. Yet, in the overall hierarchy of human misdemeanours, these are surely way down the list, so why do they get to me so much?

I think it’s because they are so obviously in your face and although they may be comparatively minor they represent such inconsiderate and unsociable acts. The railways are in the firing line here, too. From my recent survey from a carriage window when travelling through the outskirts of Nottingham, I noticed that there was plenty to complain about. Cuttings seem to be the worst. I suppose that once tipped in a cutting, the evidence is immediately out of sight at street level - but not from a passing train!

If there is a footpath parallel to the top of the cutting, it attracts more casual waste and the offenders could have come from anywhere. What strikes me most is where a back garden is separated from the top of the cutting by a single fence, meaning that only the house-holder at that particular property could realistically have dumped the stuff. There are some hideous examples. No need to go to the tip, just heave unwanted items over the fence. Why bother with a bin, at all? Amazing - there they lie, the contents of bulging and torn, black bin liners, slowly rotting alongside an old mattress and discarded hardware items, a presentation for passing rail passengers but below the line of sight of the perpetrators, who can continue to enjoy lounging around in their litter-free garden on a pleasant summer’s afternoon. I imagine that they may have a few more flies to put up with than their neighbours, though.

I’m a bit more ambivalent about graffiti. I thought for decades that it was just a bad thing. Then along came Banksy and those trying to emulate him. That is so clever, I am drawn to admit. I’m also very much in favour of public art even though it is not uniformly pleasing. Expansive factional murals in Belfast have now become tourist attractions.  

Protecting the railway environment is the responsibility of Network Rail and the train operating companies. In 2012, Bill Bryson spearheaded an initiative by the Campaign to Protect Rural England, encouraging the authorities to be more proactive in this respect. Aided by a range of environmental groups at a local level, there will have been many improvements since then but I bet you won’t have to travel far by train from your home station to see that plenty more still needs to be done. In the end, as they say, it is down to education.  

Former railway lines also have a growing army of protectors. Our own local amenity has its own support group, the Friends of Southwell Trail. They comb the former Midland Railway route from Farnsfield to Southwell for litter, control the vegetation and maintain the pathway for walkers, horse riders and cyclists. It all helps to keep the mucky pups at bay.