Rural roads are going downhill
Harvest time – and we are already seeing articles in the press about tractors on the roads and drivers going too fast for the conditions.
Yet again, farming bears the brunt of carrying out its industry in the public eye, and indeed in its physical presence.
Whether you are a walker, runner, cyclist or horse rider, it is never pleasant to come face-to-face with a vehicle travelling towards to you on a narrow country lane – or coming up behind you. It may not be an agricultural vehicle. It may be one of the large number of delivery vans now racing to deliver all the items bought through online shopping.
The deterioration of our rural roads is down to many factors. In recent years, weather patterns have changed. We have more wet autumns and early winters, followed by frosts, causing road surfaces to break up, which results in potholes. Once they have appeared, they are not dealt with due to cuts to council budgets, and so they get worse.
We have to learn to drive to the conditions in front of us, and all road users need to observe courtesy to all other users.
Sarah Norton is a retired rural dweller living near Shrewsbury
