I used to have so much fun in that area! I picked elderberries in the field, dandelions (for wine) in the brown field site, and - joy of joys!!! - fished for minnows in the canal. Of course there were nettle beds and blackberry thickets, but they were useful for nettle beer and jams, so I faced them bravely.
Alas, no more. Fences everywhere! I can't get to the meadow or brownfield site, and as for reaching the canal and fishing for minnows, well that is completely out of the question. I would have to climb over a picket fence, negotiate two barb wired boundaries, and then some sort of plastic wire fence thing. I wouldn't be surprised to encounter bear-traps and rabbit snares!
Why did they do it?
Probably a combination of misguided health & safety rules, and landowners not wanting to share their land with peripatetic harvesters and gleaners like myself. I used to encounter a lot of people in this area, dog walkers, playing children, and even shifty looking individuals clutching top shelf magazines to read in some concealed hollow.
What do all those users do now? They stay at home. Instead of getting to grips with Nature in an intimately grimy, adventurous, slightly dangerous way, getting to know her by climbing trees, falling into the canal, building little fires, picking berries and flowers, and generally getting into trouble, they play with their laptops and know nothing of the joys of nature.
Ah, I hear you cry, but there are so many occasions to experience Nature! There are Sunday afternoons in the Park with Mom and Dad, visits to the zoo, farm open days, and educational films on Youtube.
Not good enough, I fear. Nature should be an integral part of our lives, not a subject matter taught in school, and drip-fed to children in homeopathic, strictly controlled, doses.
We have taught children that Nature is other, not us. Nature is out there, to be enjoyed, or feared, but mainly exploited, and definitely has no part of humanity.
That is the reason, in my opinion, why we are in the fix we currently are.
Unless we understand our role as part of Nature, and treat all other members with consideration and respect, we are doomed as a species.
Take the current virus situation. We have so reduced the habitat of the bats that carry the corona virus that they had to find new hosts. And there is no better host that human beings. All other species are liable to become extinct as a result of human intervention. So by picking us as hosts, the viruses maximise their chances of survival. Can you blame them?
There will be many more viruses and bacteria who will take this course of action if we continue to destroy their traditional hosts.
