The day was hot, very hot. Sweltering sunshine hammered down on us, but fortunately SD and myself both had extra fluids, sun-screen and jaunty caps at the ready.
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| Bright sunlight with fluffy clouds, below Tottenham Locks. |
Ready, that is, for the traditional Tottenham welcome of rubbish dumped at the locks and at the ramped access to the navigation. Sometimes, it can seem like we're stuck in the nineteen-seventies with the canal being used as a landfill site by some people.
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| Rubbish below the lock island steps. Reported by SD. |
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| Rubbish at access point reported by GW. |
Reporting is done using the Jotform based system, that is also used intensively by the London enquiries team. SA and myself are trying to improve this reporting system beyond its early beta stages, a chance for me to use some of the IT skills that I'd otherwise let go to seed.
And speaking of going to seed, there are a few weeds that grow on the towpaths that are counted as 'reportable' - in that if we spot them we must report them and that report has to go on to DEFRA so that proper action can be taken. Giant Hogweed (which is incredibly dangerous to handle) is one of them. Japanese Knotweed is less dangerous, but equally pernicious.
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| Pointing out Japanese Knotweed. |
At Hackney Marsh we found Japanese Knotweed growing in the towpath alongside this poor chap's boat. We took a great interest, and had to reassure him that it wasn't his boat we were reporting, but the evil weed growing alongside it!
Here's the Trust information on Japanese Knotweed. And on Giant Hogweed.
As we reached Sweet Water (named not for the non-sea-water but for the glucose outfall from Clarnico's sweet factory which was here through the first part of the twentieth century) the problems returned to the more familiar: rubbish left where a litter bin has been removed next to East Wick Services and massive amounts of rubbish by the litter bin next to White Post Lane bridge.
2 hours.
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