A Dollop of Wallop with Harry Wallop
I was distressed to read about vandals causing damage to various buildings and structures in Keswick over the Easter weekend, not least the temporary toilets on the Keswick to Threlkeld Railway Trail.
Graffiti is bad enough but can be cleaned up; taking a toilet out of action causes quite a stink.
No sniggering, please. The slow and steady decline of public toilets in Britain is a very serious matter.
As the population ages and, at the same time, becomes more mobile, we need clean, decent and – ideally – free facilities. Instead, many local councils have closed their loos, citing austerity. Raymond Martin, managing director of the British Toilet Association, estimates that the UK has lost 50 per cent of its public toilets in the past decade. At least 2,000 have been closed down over the last decade or so.
Keswick is hardly abundant with toilets. Yes, there are a couple of okay ones in the centre of town, but you need to pay. And, yes, I know Booths will gladly allow anyone to use theirs. But, if you are a walker caught short after a longer than expected trudge up a fell – or down the railway trail – your options are limited.
I was struck by this thought as I was driving down the Newlands valley from Portinscale to Little Town and saw the most astonishing sight: a woman in broad daylight going about her business on the side of the road. It is possible she was suffering from some drastic emergency that meant she could not stagger a few yards up a path to hide her modesty.
Or it is possible she has lived all her life away from polite society and had no idea what she was doing. Whatever the cause of her exhibition, it was a reminder that anyone planning on building a toilet should be applauded.
By chance, this occurred less than 200 yards up the road from the proposed Ullock Moss car park – a car park long discussed, but still not approved. It is strongly opposed by the Lake District National Park Authority and quite a few Portinscale locals.
The LDNPA turned down the original proposal for the 150 space car park saying it would ruin the tranquillity of the area because of “the introduction of parked cars”. Has anyone from the LDNPA ever driven down this road in summer or on a bank holiday? Because they will have seen there is zero tranquillity and parked cars have been “introduced” onto every possible verge.
I am unconvinced that a car park will encourage more cars to use the road; it is already a hugely popular route to the area’s most popular fell, Catbells. Car park or no car park, the road will always be busy. Possibly the main reason why the car park seems an eminently sensible idea, however, is that it will include a new, modern toilet block. This would be an excellent and – on the basis of what I saw last week – crucial amenity for the area.
Harry Wallop: Is the Lake District National Park Authority up to the job?
