The event that never happened - Cranford Park today

After my walk last Sunday around Cranford Park and the peace and quiet being disrupted by the radio controlled car enthusiasts yet again, I spent a fair bit of time during the last week researching what, if any, byelaws they were breaking.

With the help of several other Friends of Cranford Park (including Kish, Sue, Angie and particularly Edwina) it was discovered that they ARE breaking several byelaws, the main one being....

 

Using remote controlled model vehicles in a manner likely to cause nuisance from noise or cause harassment, alarm or distress to another person, without the express consent of the Council or the owner of the land.

 

This is clearly stated in the Public Spaces Protection Order issued by Hillingdon Council and which came into force on 1st June 2015 for a duration of 3 years.

 

 

In the 2014 Public Spaces Protection Order which came into force on 20th October 2014, Cranford Park was omitted from the list of parks the PSPO protects but in the amended 2015 one both Cranford Park and Lake Farm are listed....

 

Other byelaws they were breaking included section 13 under the Animals listing which states...

 

No person shall in the pleasure ground, save in the exercise of any lawful right or privilege, harry, ill-treat, injure, destroy or wilfully disturb any animal, bird, bird's egg or nest, or any other wild life, spread or use any snare, engine, instrument or other means for the taking, injury or destruction of any bird or animal.

 

And under section 14 part iii it states under the Nuisances act....

 

No person shall in the pleasure ground by playing or operating or causing or suffering to be played or operated any musical instruments, wireless loud-speaker or similar instrument make or cause or suffer to be made any noise which is so loud and so continuous or repeated as to give reasonable cause for annoyance to other persons in the pleasure ground.

 

So this morning armed with copies of the PSPO's from both 2014 and 2015, I was ready to confront the RC car enthusiasts.

I had also spent some time googling RC cars and was horrified to find a list of injuries sustained to humans when a RC car, particularly these big petrol run ones, have hit them. Fractured ankles, torn tendons, severe bruising and deep cuts were just a few. So if those sort of injuries could happen to a human, just imagine the sort of injuries that could be inflicted on a dog ! With so many regular dog walkers using the park this added fuel to the reasons why we don't want this group of RC car enthusiasts at Cranford Park.

 

But to soften the blow, Kish done some research and came up with the Remote World Model Car Club which suggests appropriate off road tracks in the area. The closest one to Cranford Park is in Slough......which is literally 10 minutes away from CP up the M4.

So I made up and printed off a few flyers with the address, contact numbers and emails addresses, intending to hand them out to the enthusiasts to show there were no hard feelings.....

 

The group of RC car enthusiasts have, for the past few Sundays since 3rd April, been meeting up by the Headland area of the park right on the outskirts of Cranford Woods between 10am and 11am.

 

This morning I was going to let them set up, get some video footage of how noisy and fast these petrol run cars are and then approach the group in a friendly manner.

 

Angie and Martin were positioned on Martin's bench waiting to see when they arrived whilst Sue and I lingered around the Headland area.

 

But they NEVER turned up !!!!

 

There can only be two reasons why. They've either got wind that we were going to confront them today OR it being a Bank Holiday weekend, they will turn up tomorrow instead.

 

Watch this space.....

 

So with peace and tranquillity restored for at least one Sunday, there were plenty of birds to watch in the Headland area for once....

 

More and more Common Whitethroats are arriving for the breeding season every day. What started with one last week, there are now at least ten chasing each other around and establishing territories.....

 

 

The male Linnet was singing from atop his usual tangle of brambles confirming for me that he and his missus are almost certainly nesting in there......

 

There was a Green Woodpecker 'yaffling' in the trees in the corner.....

 

 

and there were critters galore out and about in the warm sunshine, including one of my favourites, the Bee-fly.....

 

 

So from the last few Sundays when there has been hardly any wildlife around in the Headland area and on the edge of Cranford Woods, today it was teeming with bird song, butterflies and critters.

 

Elsewhere around the woods I found three species of Ladybird.

 

The Orange ladybird (Halyzia 16-guttata)...

 

This is one of the Harlequin ladybirds, possibly Harmonia axyridis succinea....

 

and this is our most often spotted ladybird, the lovely little Seven-spot (Coccinella 7-punctata)....

 

With it being so sunny and warm today, there were plenty of butterflies on the wing.

The Speckled Woods are now becoming territorial. There were lots of pairs battling it out and flying around in tight little circles. When they did eventually settle, it wasn't with wings flat out, but half open so they could be ready to launch into action again.....

 

 

There were still a few Small Tortoiseshell around. I managed to get two photos of separate butterflies with their wings closed. Not as pretty as when their wings are open, but still quite interesting to look at.....

 

As to be expected there were loads of Peacocks around. The flamboyant butterfly also looks more colourful when the wings are open...

 

I had two targets today, one was to get a photo of a female Orange Tip and the other was to get a photo of an Orange Tip on it's natural food source, the Cuckoo Flower.......

and eventually I managed both.

Female Orange Tip on bluebell.....

Female Orange Tip on dandelion.....

and finally a female Orange Tip on a Cuckoo Flower.....

 

It was an interesting day hanging around waiting for the event that never happened (ie the RC car enthusiasts V Cranford Park regulars), and there is every chance they may be at the park tomorrow or next Sunday. I will carry the PSPO's in my camera rucksack just in case.