Always the same isn’t it? The week a vital member of staff takes a holiday, his services are suddenly urgently needed!
Bit of a shock greeting narrow boat crews and towpath users on the K and A through Sydney Gardens this morning as someone with limited capacity has directed what is left of his intelligence through the nozzle of a spray-paint can on to the stone walls lining this historic section of John Rennie’s 18th/19th century creation.
In these austere times, the Graffiti Unit is basically one man and he is on holiday. To be fair to B&NES they sent some workmen down pretty quickly to see if they could deal with the vandalism.
The men are trained to deal with grafitti – and, l hear, have been making a decent job of getting much of it off.
This sort of criminal damage isn’t what narrow boat users pay to see as they drift through the Gardens and not what tourists on foot want to view either.
To be fair – for those local people who are rightly proud of the city’s history and heritage – it’s also a slap in the face.
It’s up to all of us to keep an eye on our urban treasures and make sure the younger generation are taught to appreciate their heritage also.
Meanwhile, l notice other staff are busy erecting the “Cross of Remembrance” outside the West Front of Bath Abbey.
It’s now a much easier job to construct the crucifix-shaped grass lawn for people to place their own poppy-cross remembrances – as the frame is made out of fibre glass and is lighter to handle.
No more the old joke about the parts being numbered to help the chaps put it together!
