It’s a pretty place, Medley. It sits at the southern end of Oxford’s Port Meadow where the River Thames branches into Castle Mill Stream, off to the left in the picture below. A Bailey bridge crosses the water from the meadow, and there is a cottage on the opposite bank. This morning gave us white clouds against a blue sky.
The scene is rather spoilt by the heap at the bottom of the picture. I hesitate to say exactly what it comprises, but its origin would be the many sewage outlets controlled by Thames Water upstream from here. A tweet of yesterday from local MP Layla Moran tells the story:
When Moran says that the government “is letting water companies get away with it”, she is referring to the relaxation of previous regulations which once restricted the volumes which Thames Water (in this case) could release into waterways. Thames Water wanted instead to pay dividends to its shareholders, and the government hastened to help them.
We are all paying now, and in more ways than one. I’ll leave the polemics for another day.
Oxford Inciter 