Link up

I have added the first link to this site, having asked and received permission for this from Ray Manchester, of the Quaggy Waterways Action Group. (You must admire any group that shrugs off the usual "Dingly Dell" tweeness of 'estate agents think' which inhabits Civic Centres across the land. Do not get me started on that issue ...)

QWAG have taken on a mammoth task and are pressing ahead brilliantly from what one can see of their work shown on their web site. I hardly need emphasise the difficulties they must face trying to sort out a century of neglect on a waterway several miles long, running through a heavily urbanised environment. There must be easier ways to get in to Purgatory! Yet what amazes me is people will try such undertakings, given a fair chance. I can think of nothing in conservation terms which rivals the impact of cleaning up waterways – simply nothing else has such a dramatic influence; on plant life, insect life and more visible wildlife such as birds and mammals. An example of this is Newcastle's very own Tyne and its tributaries, particularly the River Derwent, now a haunt once more (when since last?) of otters.

Good luck people, and thanks for the link.