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The Way I See It: Does the environment agency care?
9:37am Friday 21st December 2007
IN MY quaint old-fashioned way I used to think that the Environment Agency had something to do with care for the environment - but a big red box which has just arrived in our office has caused me to reconsider that view.
Around half-a-metre square, the box, with its impressive white bow, was specially delivered by courier and contained - just two A4 sheets of a press release about preventing flooding, a picture print of gifts around a Christmas tree, a label saying "Don't let flooding spoil your Christmas", and an even smaller label saying: "Please reuse or recycle this box."
One box was delivered to Gillian Cowburn (pictured), who sub-edits the South Lakes Citizen and an identical box arrived for The Westmorland Gazette newsdesk.
No doubt the EA sent similar boxes to all other newspapers, I estimate that the cost was the felling of several dozen trees and a fair amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere by all the courier trips.
So much for care about the carbon footprint, and why go to all the time and trouble with such nonsense when just about every paper in the land now has an efficient e-mail system?IN MY quaint old-fashioned way I used to think that the Environment Agency had something to do with care for the environment - but a big red box which has just arrived in our office has caused me to reconsider that view.
Around half-a-metre square, the box, with its impressive white bow, was specially delivered by courier and contained - just two A4 sheets of a press release about preventing flooding, a picture print of gifts around a Christmas tree, a label saying "Don't let flooding spoil your Christmas", and an even smaller label saying: "Please reuse or recycle this box."
One box was delivered to Gillian Cowburn (pictured), who sub-edits the South Lakes Citizen and an identical box arrived for The Westmorland Gazette newsdesk.
No doubt the EA sent similar boxes to all other newspapers, I estimate that the cost was the felling of several dozen trees and a fair amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere by all the courier trips.
So much for care about the carbon footprint, and why go to all the time and trouble with such nonsense when just about every paper in the land now has an efficient e-mail system?
Your sayYourCumbria
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Gillian Cowburn holds huge box gift, empty except for some paper.
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Prehistoric walk
The interesting brochure you can obtain from the car park at Foulshaw Moss says that more than several thousand years ago the Witherslack Mosses were part of an extensive wetland in what is now the Lyth Valley and on the flat ground west of the Kent Estuary. The Mosses - Meathop, Foulshaw and Nicols - are raised peat bogs brought about by sphagnum moss that draws up, acidifies, and holds water like a giant sponge, creating waterlogged conditions as it grows. Sphagnum grows from the tip, leaving the lower part to die. Waterlogging halts decay of these dead bits that build up and up over thousands of years, to form deep domed mounds of peat that are raised many feet above the surrounding ground. The Witherslack Mosses have dried out partly as a result of forestry and the invasion of scrub. Over time, drainage and peat cutting led to the loss of more wetland and now only significant fragments remain. Specialised peatbog flora and fauna have been unable to thrive because of the area being too shaded and too dry. Recently conifers have been removed and also masses of rhododendrons have been cleared. Hundreds of peat and plastic dams have been installed to bring about the ‘sponge’ effect of the peat. At Foulshaw, the remains of a 15ft to 16ft wide prehistoric trackway has been uncovered. This is believed to have been constructed in the mid-Bronze Age to allow people to cross the once huge wetland. Trunks of ash and birch were laid side by side and supported on logs. Foulshaw Moss is open to the public. Nichols Moss, a really squelchy one, is only suitable for a hundred yards or so before you encounter pathless very wet moss. It is a delight to stand and look ahead but as there is no walkway do not continue. Pause just on its edge from where you might spot red deer. Meathop is a lovely walk but only for those with a permit from Cumbria Wildlife Trust or if you are a member. The parking is difficult. After the first short grassy track, follow a wider track, left, that winds round right by a pasture and into fine conifer woodland. Beyond this a wide walkway takes you out some distance into the moss, from where you will spot all sorts of interesting lowly plants. To visit Foulshaw Moss, on the A590, it is best to approach the entrance from the direction of Kendal. If coming from the opposite direction continue on past the entrance and make use of the Levens underpass to make a U-turn and approach from the north. This avoids trying to make a right turn across a narrow section of the busy A-road. The entrance is not signposted until you have turned off the road. The entrance turn, a cart track, lies just before a large layby on a narrow section of the A-road. Just beyond the turn, stands a huge sign saying ‘Dual carriageway a mile ahead’. To approach the entrance, drive the dual carriageway at Levens until it ends. Continue a short distance along the two-way road and begin to signal your left turn. Watch out for the large sign ahead. If you reach the layby you have gone too far.
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