In this week’s Stunner (available in the pub as well as on-line):
p.1 Mystery surrounds land slip highway: an article and photo echoing our previous posts and comments on the state of the B5056 at Fenny Bentley. The slip was probably caused by the floods last summer but will be difficult and expensive to fix since the hillside is made of slippery shale. Derbyshire County Council will shortly be investigating the cause and extent of the slip following which they will be looking at when to carry out the work. They do not rule out closing the road whilst the work is being carried out.
Read on for more local news…
p.4 Making a mountain out of a mole kill: accompanied by a photo of our very own Curly and his son Jake, this article tells of their astonishment at finding white moles in their mole traps. It was apparently William who found the first white one and Jake then found two more. Although not unheard of, moles of this colour are apparently very rare.
p.5 Volunteering in focus: an article by Debbie Webster about the weight loss benefits of volunteering for dog walking at the Ashbourne District animal Welfare Society (also known as ARK).
p.24 Marking St George’s Day in Parwich: this article advertises our forthcoming St George’s Day celebrations and is accompanied by a picture of the Oddfellows.
As usual, please let us know if we’ve missed any local news from the Stunner this week.
One thing is for sure – whether the B5056 slips away completely or whether is is repaired quickly, the road is likely to be closed for quite some time. We should think about the implications of this. Consider for instance where the quarry lorries from Ballidon will drive if they want to get to Ashbourne once the route is barred…..
Option 1: They could head up the hill into Bradbourne and down the narrow lane towards Carsington. I’m sure lorries cannot go this way.
Option 2: They could head into Parwich and out to the A515 on the Alsop Road or the road to Newhaven. Again, taking heavy traffic through the centre of a village where small children play cannot be suitable.
Option 3: Take the lorries down the B5056 to Longcliffe and head round Brassington. Once, again not suitable for heavy lorries.
Option 4: Head down the B5056 all the way to Grange Mill, then head right towards the Via Gellia or left to Pike Hall. This route probably is possible for heavy lorries, but boy what a detour for a lorry to take.
This is just an illustrative example of the disruption likely. Cars of course are not subject to the restrictions of lorries and could well be detoured through our or neighbouring villages. Any further thoughts on this would be welcome.
It really would have been better for the Council to conduct a proper repair some time ago rather than ‘papering over the cracks’ by laying tarmac on the problem. Budgets may be tight, but the delay to the repair will cost us much more in many different ways.
Am I right in thinking that there’s a back lane which connects the Ballidon quarry to the Parwich-Pikehall road? And if so, then would it be suitable for wide and heavy loads, maybe just in one direction only? (I suspect not…)
Most of this gated lane is just gravel and it goes through Royston Grange farm yard.