Chris. Packham’s soul searching as to whether the time has come for direct action re climate change and potential biodiversity collapse in the face of government ‘drifting’ on the matter seemed to come to a rather inconclusive conclusion. That is not to belittle the man who is doing such good works and using his public profile for the common good. I would be less impressed with the Swedish author who wrote a book about how to blow-up oil pipelines – why not practice what you preach – also remember the Iraq War. Apparently the current Prime Minister ‘doesn’t get climate change’, maybe it was one of those one lesson a week subjects like music or personal and social education where your parents didn’t ask you what you had done in those lessons. Pushing back for three years the deadline for electric cars (only new ones) was just the most shallow electionaring, predictable but not capturing votes here.
The sports stadium beside West Park, Hull (originally KCom stadium, now MKM stadium) might seem an unlikely green area, enhancing biodiversity and green impact. However, it is, and well worth a visit (the gates from the Park are usually open until closed by security employees about teatime, as is the path from Londesborough St. junction oner the rail lines. I have walked round on the afternoon of a home game with more police on the site than at Hendon College and I wasn’t questioned once, they did seem mellowed by some easy overtime).
The photo above shows part of the Park’s peripheral driveway next to the stadium and facing north. The metal fence is now the boundary fence of the Park but the 6inch map extracts included by Paul Gibson in his booklet ‘The West Park, a short history of Hull’s second public park’ show that the mature trees shown along the edge of the stadium site were once along the edge of the Park. Perhaps an obvious fact, but there is more to discover on the site of the stadium.
(to be continued.)