Jan awoke this morning to the smell of hot bitumen. Probably not surprising as there is a large bitumen factory opposite and a tarmac plant beyond the canal junction. Yesterday I would have said the only endearing things about Bulls Bridge Junction are the water point and secure 24 hour mooring beside the large Tesco. However last night we had a knock on the boat from a fellow boater who had something around his propeller which he couldn’t remove. He wanted to breast up against us. We readily agreed to assist a boater in difficulty. Then we were advised a boat further along the moorings had been broken into the previous night. Small change and alcohol taken so I assume it was children.
One thing is readily apparent; the locals are not proud of their suburb. Its been some time since we last passed through an area with so much litter. The area around Tesco is clean but the adjacent land looks like a rubbish tip. One example follows.
This is by no means the worst of what can be seen. I’m reminded of the container recycling laws in South Australia where all plastic and metal drink containers carry a 5c (I think it’s now 10c) refund. The result of this is that almost all drink containers are returned to recycling centres.
Another observation is the ethnic background of the local residents. We appear to be moored near Bollywood! 
The skyline also gives an indication.
There is both a dry and wet dock at Bulls Bridge Junction with adjacent moorings. A number of these mooring are occupied by houseboats.
With bridges either side of the moorings I can’t see the double storey houseboats ever moving. But I do wonder how the hulls are blacked?
The last boat maintenance task task for the day was to clean and paint the port side of the engine bay. After that I walked several miles to the nearest Halfords and purchased aerosol cans of primer and white paint to finish off the inaccessible (to an old man like me) area around the stern tube.
Another annual task completed!
5 comments :
Very good paint job on the engine bay, so where can we meet so that you can do mine ?? ;-)
Sorry for the delay in replying Alf. Its taken me some time to recover from the hysterical laughter!
Hi Tom,
3 points.
1) When I was a nipper in the 50s it used to be my job to return the empty 'lemonade' bottles (3p per bottle). I can not remember ever seeing a bottle thrown away. Now all you see is broken glass and plastic, the sooner the charge for plastic bags is brought in the better.
2) Yet again you blame litter and rubbish on the indian/muslim community. (The problem is lazy, uncaring, selfish people of all ethnicities - white sink estates in most of the major cities in this country are no different). This, very occasional, casual racism spoils an otherwise excellent blog.
3) I've printed off the picture of your engine hole to use as the standard I want to reach when I clean & paint mine over the Easter weekend.
Regards
John
Hi John,
I also remember my days as a boy in NZ where 2p was refunded on every soft drink bottle and 1p on a beer bottle. If it cost people more to discard rather than recycle/dispose I suspect there would be far less of a problem.
I've travelled, lived and worked in many parts if the world. Some are exceptionally clean. Singapore is spotless (chinese/malay/indian) yet you can go to China, Malaysia & India and see the reverse. This isn't a racial matter. It's a cultural issue. The leaders in Singapore changed the culture whereas the leaders in England have not. The local Hayes leaders need to change the local culture. The sameneeds to be done in Nuneaton where the dog faeces are a disgrace.
I commented last night that we had almost gone to live at Willowtree Marina. One of the things that put us off (well, me mostly) apart from the potential tube commute into Westmister each day, was getting off the train at Southall (?) and walking through the streets and along the towpath to the marina. I felt like an alien - I have been in many mostly Maori communities here in NZ and not had that sense of not being welcome.
As we walked along the towpath, I also remember seeing a woman taking her plastic bags of rubbish and throwing them in the canal. That shocked me then and would shock me now wherever it happened on the cut. I agree with you, Tom, it is a cultural issue of what is acceptable behaviour regardless of the cultural group people belong to.
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