2011 Streak 49/365: Anti-vandal

2011 Streak 49/365: Walking - 6.12 mile, Time - 1 hr 55min, Weather grey and soft edged (and a little bit colder)

I like allotments. They are often in odd corners of land, hidden away so that when you find them there is a slight sense of surprise and pleasure. These cultivated spaces with a variety of plants, lots of effort and usually a slightly ramshakle appearance of make do and mend, are peaceful little corners amongst the houses and streets. I love the improvisation  and the way things like old plastic bottles have many uses.  I also like the heterogeneous mix of styles - everybody seems to go about gardening in a different way.

But they obviously need protection and there is very little to stop somebody from maliciously ruining things or someone else from harvesting the crops.

This allotment has taken action which allows it to feature in my series of warning signs. At first I could not work out what had been painted and then realised it must be the link fencing (I had thought it was merely covered with a standardised plastic covering). My next thought was to wonder how anti-vandal paint worked and what was being protected.

Apparently it is paint that does not set so it is slippy (to make climbing a little more difficult) and leaves a stain that is difficult to remove. So I understand the warning sign on the gate - you don't want to open it by holding onto the fencing. However I wonder whether its use is appropriate beside a footpath where people, especially children, could easily brush against the fencing and ruin clothing or stain their skin. 

What a difficult world we live in where you have to take measures to protect the totally beneficial  and wonderful activity of cultivating crops but those measures might have unintended consequences.