Dartmouth Park Restoration - V

Further to yesterday's post, I am now, as promised, going to let those of you know, who have not already sussed it out, what is missing from the concrete steps shown in the top photo.

This omision will come as no surprise to the upper echelons of Sandwell MDC who appoint and preside over the experts who designed the steps.

But it came as a great surprise to me - particularly as I vividly recall the laborious business a few years ago of Sandwell digging holes in the middle of concrete slabbed steps to install a handrail.

See the bottom photo, and see the central handrail that took about a week to install. Quite why Sandwell decided to do this is unknown to me, especially as there already were handrails either side of the steps - and there are only 11 steps anyway!

See also the central handrail in the middle photo. If you can focus on the handrail, rather than lament at the sad state of those minds that conceived and authorised the destruction of the stone stairway itself, you will see the real necessity for this one. This stairway must be getting on for 20 feet in height, and being faced in stone, readily becomes slippy when wet, let alone when it has ice or snow on it.

Now look at the new flight of concrete steps.

Same height as the stone stairway. Not made of stone, but each step lovingly edged in shiny blue brick.

And where do you see the hand rail?

That's right. There isn't one.

The little flight of steps has 3 handrails.,

The stone stairway had one handrail.

The new set of concrete steps has no handrails.

Well done Sandwell, and its expert designers of steps, and its Health and Safety people.

But there is hope. I mean, be fair. Sandwell may be hopeless, but few things are completely hope less.

I'm prepared to bet that by this time next year there will be so many safety rails there that you will hardly be able to get up the steps.

It will be amazing how galvanised Sandwell will become after the first few sprained wrists; broken ankles; ricked backs and fractured crania --- and the attendant litigation.

I wonder whether not designing in handrails to a 20 foot high set of public steps amounts to negligence? If so, would the whole of Sandwell Council be liable, or only the architect?

Oh well. Not long to find out ...........

Dartmouth Park Restoration - IV

I think it's confirmed.

The concrete steps are complete. Hoorah !!!

Why do I think this?

(1)Because the builders' fencing has been removed from the car park into which the steps lead, and (2) because all of the builders' stuff has gone.

So, dear readers, it looks as though my observation last November was correct. And that was that, despite the massed intelligence of Sandwell MDC; its architect and the National Lottery, something has been missed.

However, there is a twist to this tale.

Whilst something has most definitely been missed, I have it on good authority that it has been missed not by accident -- but by design - literally!!

A well placed source said that he had noticed the same omission as myself, and queried it with an even better placed source. This even better placed source informed him that the 'omission' was known of and, by implication, was not seen as a problem.

So what is missing?

Answer - tomorrow.

To help you I have shown a photo of the original stone stairway which was located adjacent to the position of the new concrete steps until Sandwell mindlessly, unnecessarily, and expensively, ripped it out.

I have also shown a photo of a smaller set of 11 steps a short distance from the new 33 (I think) concrete steps.

Compare these photos with the first one, which is of the new concrete steps complete with shiny smooth brick edges (there's another clue for you.)

Dartmouth Park Restoration - III

Well it looks as though the builders of the concrete steps are grinding their weary way to some sort of a conclusion.

Certainly some gates have appeared and the general shape of the concrete hasn't changed much in the last few weeks.

All the signs are that the end is in sight. Which isn't bad, I suppose, if you consider it's only 7 months since Sandwell and the National Lottery started to build them -- and only (almost) a year since Sandwell destroyed the stone stairway which occupied the adjacent piece of ground.

So a huge sigh of relief all round, particularly from those people who, until a year ago, had access to Dartmouth Park from a Sandwell Valley car park.

Of course, I may be being a shade presumptious there. Sandwell being Sandwell means it doesn't necessarily follow that the gates will be opened to permit people to pass through them.

To those who have no direct knowledge of Sandwell, this may sound somewhat foolish. But there is another rather larger car park on the site which, in 2008, Sandwell painted parking bays all over and built a dividing barrier complete with lockable gate which split the car park into two pieces roughly 1/3rd and 2/3rds. Since then, for a large part of each year, and for no obvious reason, cars are restricted to the 1/3rd portion.

At Sandwell, reason and logic don't seem to exist. People just decide things, and they are done - eventually.

So if the Sandwell Intelligentia take it into their heads that they don't want people trampling all over the new concrete steps, you can be sure those shiny new gates will remain firmly locked!!

One other thing.

You may recall me suggesting, in my 8th November, 2010 post, that, just possibly, the massed intellect of Sandwell; the National Lottery, and the architect who has poured his whole life's experience and creativity into this set of concrete steps, may have missed something.

The more I look at these steps, the more convinced I become. And I recently invited a colleague to comment - having been most careful not to lead the witness in any way.

To my surprise, and gratification, after barely a few seconds study, he made exactly the same observation as I had done.

So I will wait a little longer, until I am quite sure that the concrete steps, in their present form, are complete. I mean, let's face it, this is Sandwell. They could be months yet before they finish them.

But when they are finally; definitely and absolutely finished, I will check again to see if my point is still valid.

If it is, I'll let you know then!!

'Ello, 'Ello, 'Ello. What's all this 'ere then? - II

Just a follow up on the last post.

(Actually, 'the last post' seems singularly apposite for Sandwell Valley as Sandwell MDC is systematically destroying it)


As expected, another woven topped fence is being created after first chopping down all of the mature hedgerows.

This is another instance of Sandwell destroying something of natural beauty in exchange for a pointless man-made mess, at a time when non-essential spending of any sort should be being avoided.

One useful byproduct though is that there is now another clear line of sight of the M5 - M6 motorway link. Visitors to the Sandwell Country Park (as Sandwell MBC like to call it) can, therefore, appreciate this additional vista which Sandwell has opened up. It ranks equally, for sheer beauty, alongside the view from the opposite side of the motorway, which Sandwell has created by chopping all of the hedgerows, alongside the motorway, down to about 4 feet.

And, but a stone's throw away, there is a fine and unobstructed view of an electicity sub-station (see my post 30. 01.10). This was, until last year, shrouded by trees and mature hedges, but was lovingly brought into the open, when Sandwell chopped down practically all of them.