Welcome to the Rudloe and environs website.
Here you will find news, articles and photos of an area that straddles the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in north-west Wiltshire.
Contributions in the form of articles or photos are welcome. Even those with completely contrary views to mine!
Thanks to the website builder 1&1 and Rob Brown for the original idea.
Rudloescene now, in January 2014, has a sister, academic rather than anarchic, website about Box history here: http://www.boxpeopleandplaces.co.uk/
It contains thoroughly professional, well-researched articles about Box and its people.
Contact rudloescene through the 'Contact' page.
The 4th June 2023 litter pick coincided with the second day of Nick Mason's annual charity spectacle at his Pickwick estate. The tailbacks from the Middlewick Lane entry point stretched up the A4 to the Copenacre estate and up the Bradford Road for quite some way. It was probably the sunny weather that gave rise to the good turnout for the 'pick' - twelve turned up (see first picture below). The title picture for June shows a McDonald's drink container in the Bradford Road verge.
Pickers struggling with the bags: Lucy, John, Rod, Lorraine, Dave, Bernard, Rob, Gordon and Derrick are pictured; Meg and Mike are out of picture, then of course there's yours truly bringing the total to twelve
Meg is sorting out her bag while John and Lorraine set off down Boxfields Road
Rob is doing the south side of Bradford Road while I'm about to be mown down by the X31 bus
The Bradford Road verge in all its early-summer glory is depicted in the gallery below
Accidentally switched camera to 'filter' and this was the result (Bradford Road)
Wheat in the Johnston fields which formerly had permission for the new slope shaft for Hartham Quarry
The obligatory McDonald's drinks container in the Bradford Road verge
Spot the litter picker (Rob) in the Bradford Road
The following gallery shows the westerly queue of vehicles on the A4 held up through Nick Mason's annual charity event at his Pickwick estate
Beyond the chaos, a KFC drink container on the A4 verge above Copenacre
Old entrance to Maidment's field above Copenacre
In the gallery below we see the A4 verge above Copenacre. In the coming weeks, Wiltshire Council will come along not to pick up the litter we see but to spray weedkiller on the diverse wild plants and flowers that have the steadfastness to grow here. The message of letting gardens, hedgerows, fields and verges grow wild for the benefit of wildlife is lost (in this instance) on Wiltshire Council.
Poor deer at the brow of Box Hill (Corsham side). Strange but deer roadkill is regular (every year) at this location. I recall some years ago when we passed that year's victim for the umpteenth time, our grandson wondered why he/she hadn't gone to heaven.
The ubiquitous blister pack found on every litter pick. Ibuprofen here, apparently used for pain relief. Odd that such small packs, that can easily be slipped into a pocket, are discarded to the four winds.
June's modest haul (much litter is now hidden by the growth of vegetation) which will be collected by Wiltshire Council's French contractor tomorrow (Monday)
The May (Sunday, 7th May 2023) Rudloe litter pick took place on Coronation weekend and we weren't half lucky as both the Saturday and Monday of this holiday weekend were somewhat damp! The title picture shows the plethora of nettles with horse chestnut beyond in the Bradford Road.
Th great and the good gather for the May litter-pick (Sunday, 7th May 2023). from the left, we have three representatives of the local Army cadet force (ACF), John, Lorraine, Rod, Dave, Derrick, Mike, another ACF and Bernard
We should have a late spring view over the Clay Vale to the Marlborough Downs from our vantage point here on the Bradford Road. But we now have this bloody, empty monstrosity (6 units still to let after 3 years) instead.
Field maple (with monstrosity beyond) in the Bradford Road
Bradford Road beeches and Skynet Drive maple at the sweep of the road twixt Rudloe Fiveways and Pickwick
The verge between Bradford Road and Skynet Drive has been 'scalped' to within a millimetre of its life
The Miscanthus has just been cut and harvested. This will provide biofuel for the Wadswick Green boilers. In spite of their existing science park monstrosity being half empty, Bath ASU wish to further expand into this remaining 'green' field.
Hawthorn in the Bradford Road hedgerow
Cow parsley in the Bradford Road verge
Bluebells in the Bradford Road verge
Looks like litter but this turned out to be a painted stone (in the 'cut' between Bradford Road and the A4)
Spring is sprung
KFC bag in the lay by opposite Copenacre
Whitebells and the view to Rudloe Estate from the A4 above Copenacre
Pizza GoGo (10 inch only) on the A4 pavement near Rudloe Firs
This Co-op falafel wrap can't have been to the consumer's taste as (s)he has chucked it away. Co-op customers - "It's what they do".
Spring is springing at Rudloe Firs
The wild garlic is out at Rudloe Firs
Young maples at Rudloe Firs
Older maples (and garlic mustard) at Rudloe Firs
Steve and his idverde (Wiltshire Council) grass-cutting team have carefully skirted around this patch of cuckoo flowers on the verge at the brow of Box Hill. In line with current ecological practice, this should be the last cut before late-July
The trailer with display shown below has been dumped on the verge at the brow of Box Hill by Dorset & Wilts Fire Service (DWFS). Locals will know that it has been there for many weeks. Apart from its unsightliness, does the rudloescene reader notice what we may call an anomaly with the 'pitch' (the target audience) of the hoarding? The photo shows a man of South Asian descent. According to ONS (Office of National Statistics) figures, the population of South Asians in Wiltshire is 0.2% of the total population (see ONS map below the photo). As a marketing/advertising exercise, why would DWFS choose a photograph of someone representing such a small proportion of the population? Clearly, in a normal world, this makes no sense but we do not live in a normal world now, we live in a world where we must be inclusive and multicultural without rationality (I don't recall a referendum on this matter). Almost without exception, every TV ad contains a black person or a black family or a black/white mixed family. Yet ONS figues show that the Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African population of England and Wales at the 2021 census is just 4%. How can such a small proportion of the population have such disproportionate representation? This is political correctness gone mad or ...
Dictionary definitions of racism include the view that it is frequently expressed through prejudice and discrimination. And discriminatory behaviour is (again, dictionary definition) characterised by or showing prejudicial treatment, especially as an indication of bias related to age, colour, national origin, religion, sex etc. From national media (TV channels particularly) through to local advertising such as the subject trailer, the prevalence of black (or Souh Asian in our case) people is unjustifiably disproportionate to the extent that it demonstrates discrimination.
John and Lorraine return from the pick along Leafy Lane
It's that time of year - wild garlic (ramsons) in Leafy Lane Wood
Springtime in Leafy Lane Wood; dog's mercury much in evidence on the woodland floor
This month's (May) haul which will be collected by Wiltshire Council's French contractor on Tuesday (9th)
April 2023 and the litter pick took place on Sunday 2nd, a relatively fine day after a week of rain. The title picture shows the usual state of the A4 verge between Copenacre and Rudloe Firs replete with McDonald's detritus. The McDonald's bag was full of uneaten hash browns, unopened sauce containers and other stuff.
The great and the good gather for the April litter-pick: from the left, we see Rod, John P, Meg, Lorraine, Madeleine, Gordon, Dave, Derrick and Rob. Lucy will arrive shortly so with yours truly, that makes eleven of us.
John and Lorraine in the Bradford Road
John and Lorraine with a backdrop of the Corsham Science Park monstrosity fabricated in 2019/20. As may be seen by the 'To Let' sign, six of the ten units are still empty three years and more since its completion.
Spring is sprung. the daffs are in the verge and cyclists on the road
With most of the 1919/20 Science Park units empty, Bath ASU/Pharmaxo proposes a Science Park Mk II which will consume the remaining green field to the south of Bradford Road at Rudloe which has been down to Miscanthus for years
On guard at Park Place; the Miscanthus field beyond
The Pickwick Quarry chimney and pillbox in the Bradford Road now exposed as a swathe of mature trees has been removed. I guess that Wiltshire Council (and other) tree 'surgeons' must find trees to chop down to justify their existence.
Double roadkill on the A4 - likely the remains of a factory-farmed animal in the McDonald's bag will be run over again shortly
Our contribution to net zero by not burning the coal which has been lying in the A4 verge opposite Copenacre for years
More roadkill, this time a hedgehog at Halfway Firs; Alan in the background
Wallkill at Halfway Firs - lifeless cow on dry stone wall
Landscape version of the title picture; McDonald's detritus in the A4 verge between Copenacre and Rudloe Firs
KFC (Kentucky Fried Crap) detritus amongst emerging spring growth in the A4 verge close to Rudloe Firs
Rudloe landscape with KFC container for those who prefer eating from buckets
Fallen tree (with ivy) and cyclists in Leafy Lane
Today's haul which will be collected by the French (Wiltshire Council contractor idverde) tomorrow (Monday, 3rd April)
Print 