'Christina' at Stone

[Wanderer Vagabond]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know why the memorial statue at Stone to Christina Collins, a murder victim from 1839, has been allowed to disappear behind a wall of weeds. I was looking for it as I came through having some interest in the history and when I came out of lock 94 I thought it had been removed, it was only later when I walked back to have a look I realised it was still there but behind a wall of weeds. To me it seems a bit disrespectful, if CRT or whoever is responsible for the upkeep can't maintain it then then it would be better to take it away altogether. If I'd realised that it was still there I could have pulled alongside and spent a couple of minutes with a set of shears to uncover it but it is almost invisible now. Anyone any idea who is responsible for its upkeep? It is still mentioned on the Stone town book and on various information boards around the town.

 

How the statue appeared last time I passed through

how it  looks now.

 

Whilst I accept that there are other priorities, with a memorial to a murder victim, you either maintain it (as her grave in Rugeley churchyard has been) or you do away with it, just letting it fall into decay in a weedbed just seems a bit disrespectful to me (perhaps its just me).

[Tumshie]

It might depend what those shrubs are - some shrubs are incredibly fast growing and can take over their environment really quickly. Perhaps the person incharge if delegating such jobs just isn't aware that one needed to be done so frequently. Often the people incharge of delegating these types of jobs don't actually know about the minutia of them. 

 

Just thinking aloud really can't know for sure I suppose unless you find out who is responsible and talk to them. I suspect that even if CRT didn't erect the monument they may still be responsible for the care of the grounds around it, there are bits on the Caley were Scottish canals are responsible for up keep just because it something that falls with in their vicinity.

[Wanderer Vagabond]

6 minutes ago, Tumshie said:

It might depend what those shrubs are - some shrubs are incredibly fast growing and can take over their environment really quickly. Perhaps the person incharge if delegating such jobs just isn't aware that one needed to be done so frequently. Often the people incharge of delegating these types of jobs don't actually know about the minutia of them. 

 

Just thinking aloud really can't know for sure I suppose unless you find out who is responsible and talk to them. I suspect that even if CRT didn't erect the monument they may still be responsible for the care of the grounds around it, there are bits on the Caley were Scottish canals are responsible for up keep just because it something that falls with in their vicinity.

To be honest, one of the issues may well be access to the statue. When I saw that it was still there but overgrown I thought of taking my own shears to it until I realised that you can only get to it from a boat. If I pass this way again and see it still like this I may feel inclined to stop just before entering/leaving the lock and set to work with the shears. It's not massively historical in its own right since it has only been there since 2000, it just seems a shame to let it become overgrown.

[Tumshie]

12 minutes ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

If I pass this way again and see it still like this I may feel inclined to stop just before entering/leaving the lock and set to work with the shears.

If you do remember that in the process of cutting it down you will have separated the branches and increased the volume of the now dismembered shrub and it will then need to be disposed off or you're just left with unsightly dead shrub, that could end up in the canal. That shrub might be more loppers than shears 

 

It is a shame though, things don't need to be massively historical to add the interesting and beautiful fabric of our environment. 

Edited August 3, 2019 by Tumshie
Add a bit

[Wanderer Vagabond]

1 minute ago, Tumshie said:

If you do remember that in the process of cutting it down you will have separated the branches and increased the volume of the now dismembered shrub and it will then need to be disposed off or you're just left with unsightly dead shrub, that could end up in the canal. 

 

It is a shame though, things don't need to be massively historical to add the the interesting and beautiful fabric of our environment. 

Isn't that what happens now when Fountains strim the towpath? (or at least the bits that don't end up all over my boat)

[Tumshie]

1 minute ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

Isn't that what happens now when Fountains strim the towpath? (or at least the bits that don't end up all over my boat)

Yes and no - the current thinking is that you leave it to decompose or to leave as homes for local wild life so small stuff and bigger wind fallen branches on certain types of ground will be left but that's not always possible so it would be chipped or shredded. If you use a train for example you might see little piles of chipped wood along an embankment that's where branches have been taken down but can't be left whole at the side of the tracks. 

 

If you look at the bottom picture the amount of shrub that needs to be removed to reveal the statue it actually quite a lot once you get going with it; if it was a woody tree type you could probbly get away with lopping of the branches and throwing them to the side because they wouldn't have much volume and you could throw them some where away from the canal but some shrubs become very unruly once you start cutting bits off them. 

 

I'm not saying don't do it just that there might be more to this job other than first meets the eye. There's reason the pay @tree monkey the big bucks ?

[zenataomm]

I find the whole thing quite sad 

[tree monkey]

2 hours ago, Tumshie said:

 

 

I'm not saying don't do it just that there might be more to this job other than first meets the eye. There's reason the pay @tree monkey the big bucks ?

Sorry, they must be sending my big bucks to the wrong bank account. 

 

Looks like an access issue to me, the planning involved in placing the statue obviously didn't consider the long term maintenance, which tbh is remarkably common all over the place.

 

It is sad

[Tim Lewis]

18 hours ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know why the memorial statue at Stone to Christina Collins, a murder victim from 1839, has been allowed to disappear behind a wall of weeds. I was looking for it as I came through having some interest in the history and when I came out of lock 94 I thought it had been removed, it was only later when I walked back to have a look I realised it was still there but behind a wall of weeds. To me it seems a bit disrespectful, if CRT or whoever is responsible for the upkeep can't maintain it then then it would be better to take it away altogether. If I'd realised that it was still there I could have pulled alongside and spent a couple of minutes with a set of shears to uncover it but it is almost invisible now. Anyone any idea who is responsible for its upkeep? It is still mentioned on the Stone town book and on various information boards around the town.

 

How the statue appeared last time I passed through

how it  looks now.

 

Whilst I accept that there are other priorities, with a memorial to a murder victim, you either maintain it (as her grave in Rugeley churchyard has been) or you do away with it, just letting it fall into decay in a weedbed just seems a bit disrespectful to me (perhaps its just me).

Without meaning to sound rude but if you are that concerned why not just go there with a pair of loppers and clear it , I reckon it is about ten minutes work.

[Tim Lewis]

7 minutes ago, Tim Lewis said:

Without meaning to sound rude but if you are that concerned why not just go there with a pair of loppers and clear it , I reckon it is about ten minutes work.

 

Mind you having seen a picture of it I am not sure if you would want to clear it!

https://staffordshiredailyphoto.blogspot.com/2014/03/horrifying-statue.html

[Tumshie]

19 minutes ago, Tim Lewis said:

 

Mind you having seen a picture of it I am not sure if you would want to clear it!

https://staffordshiredailyphoto.blogspot.com/2014/03/horrifying-statue.html

 

37 minutes ago, Tim Lewis said:

Without meaning to sound rude but if you are that concerned why not just go there with a pair of loppers and clear it , I reckon it is about ten minutes work.

7 of the first 8 post of this thread are about whether or not WV would/should/could clear the overgrowth round the state. 

[Wanderer Vagabond]

3 hours ago, Tim Lewis said:

Without meaning to sound rude but if you are that concerned why not just go there with a pair of loppers and clear it , I reckon it is about ten minutes work.

The only reason that I didn't do that on the way through was because it is so badly overgrown that I didn't think it was there any more. It was only having walked back and peered into the undergrowth that I realised that it was, and thought about bringing the shears up to clear it since I wasn't moored that far away (but below the next lock). It was then that I realised that there is no access to it from canalside, and couldn't be bothered with the trouble of winding, coming back through two locks, winding again, and then going back down again.

[Mike Todd]

I made a similar comment a week or so ago on our blog.pity as local history is so fascinating. We board on his path side.

[zenataomm]

5 hours ago, Tumshie said:

7 of the first 8 post of this thread are about whether or not WV would/should/could clear the overgrowth round the state. 

In England we have counties not states