Thursday 21 January 2010

Unadopted

Very sad that word; unadopted. It conjours up images of orphaned, crying children, but in this instance I'm talking about unadopted roads!
My walk this week for 52 Walks in 2010 was along the cliffs at Peacehaven, East Sussex in the early morning mist to take photos of the Meridian Monument. The Monument marks the end of the imaginary Greenwich Meridian Line on land and the start of it's long journey around the World. (I just happened to snap the ferry leaving Newhaven too).





Walking along the cliffs in the summer is not a problem as the ground is dry, but this week, after all the snow had melted, the ground was very wet, and as I discovered, extremely muddy! Much of the road along the cliff edge is unadopted, not looked after by the Council but by the Residents, and the potholes are enormous! Some must be 4 inches deep and it's a shame to see it that way.




The Monument is supposed to be a tourist attraction but this is the state of the road where it is sited.  Peacehaven is infamous for being mentioned in a Food Guide as a place to pass straight through and not stop at. The town was also briefly seen on Eastenders as the place where Sharon's ashes were thrown out to sea. The Monument bears a couple of plaques about when it was erected, but the most interesting thing for me is the brass plaque upon it commemorating where the line passes through on it's journey around the globe. It lists all the countries it crosses and how far away.






The one good thing about the unadopted road is that it is very quiet and uncommercialised. The Monument and the pebble beaches at the base of the cliffs remain a well-hidden secret, enjoyed by the locals.....and me with my camera and muddy boots!

5 comments:

  1. Really beautiful photos.
    A x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lots of the roads round here are like that and they are supposedly maintained! Hmm.

    Your 52 walks project does sound interesting, will be watching to see where else you end up :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for adding the link to our shop Gift Draw. Your name is in the box :-)
    A x

    ReplyDelete

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