Sunday 30th October 2016
One day after my Quantocks walk and I got to meet up with a friend I hadn’t seen for a number of months… On a walk, naturally.
We’d originally talked about doing a longer walk further south on the Mendips but arrived at a compromise where we we meet up, closer to Bristol and tackle the 4.5 miles of Geoff Mullett’s Dundry Hill walk.
Now, I only took two photos on this walk (I know! Hard to believe, right?); both of which were towards the end. First, we have the trig point above. Nearly three-years ago, I did the Dundry and Maes Knoll walk (which can also be found in the Walk West eBooks) and, despite my best efforts to look beyond the hedge, I could not see the trig pillar. I think Geoff even makes reference to this in his text. My best assumption was that it had been destroyed or removed…
My friend and I were staggered to see it standing there, on the wrong side of the wire fence (private land with no right of way). It appeared as though the whole line of hedge and small trees had recently been removed, giving a clear view northwards over the city of Bristol. Of course, the trig is also now open to be discovered. Maybe even painted…
You can find it at Ordnance Survey grid reference: ST 573 670.
We had a short break, slightly further west on seats of stone, before finishing the walk. But at the other end of this field, we’d uncover a horrible sight (yet, not unfamiliar, to these parts):
Fly-tipping. A problem that grows worse, the further east you travel from here. East Dundry is a habitat – allegedly, for tradesmen of South Bristol who are unwilling to pay to have their waste disposed of correctly.
As we approached this latest site, which sits at the end of a dead-end lane with a turning space for vehicles, we witnessed one young couple return to their blue car before driving back in to the village… I didn’t witness them throwing anything over the edge but there presence was suspicious, nonetheless.
This was at: ST 560 668.
It appears to cost the council thousands of pounds each year in clearing up although, I’ve never seen any local news stories of anyone been caught in the act, charged or prosecuted.
You may also be interested in the follow news stories from 2016:
Fly-Tipping across the Chew Valley and Wrington Vale
(Note the CCTV camera)
Piles of rubbish dumped in East Dundry
76 bin bags containing drugs!
I like one man’s suggestion of impounding the owner’s vehicle. That’d cost more than the current deterrent of a small fine. But I fear this will only continue to rise, as North Somerset Council implements a new recyclcling scheme in March, where even residents will have to pay to dispose of DIY waste, while for each visit, you must have a permit slip (although, I think there’s are of a free issue – I once had one for my van, where I received twelve permit slips for a twelve-month period).
