Today I got to put into action something I've been hoping to do as a volunteer since I started on the towpath as a ranger: actually make an improvement for access for everyone.
This gate at Rammey Marsh is padlocked. It has a U-shaped bypass on the water side that's just barely big enough for a bike to be walked around, or for a standard wheelchair to awkwardly ease into and out of. But you can't get a mobility scooter through, or a handbike-wheelchair combination as used by some tetraplegics.
My manager and I came up with a scheme, we'd put an NKS/Radar key operated padlock, in series with the padlock that was holding the gate secure. The Trust okayed this as an experiment, and we hurriedly found ways to hop through the bureaucratic hoops necessary.
Today we installed the lock (after some unexpected 'hot work' by operative D to allow us through the lock chain) and put up some signage explaining the new access. And I texted my handbike using acquaintance with the good news.
This felt good. And if all goes well we might do it again where other towpaths are made inaccessible by gates and locks like this.
On the way home I passed the remains of the old transhipment warehouse again, and watched a motorised jackhammer work at removing the concrete structure. Soon all that will remain will be the wharf edge.
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| Transhipment warehouse, disappearing... |
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