The other week I wrote about the tree felling going on in the middle of the night. Turns out It has been Northern Rail clearing the sides of the tracks when they are not live in preparation for winter. The railway line cuts through the middle of the cemetery and under the bridge there has always been a small dark woody area that often the roebuck use if they come from the woods behind the golf course. Recently a metal fence has been erected all the way around creating a small compound. I walk past here three times a day with the kids so I see the comings and goings.
Last week a caravan appeared. Then another. On bank holiday Monday there was a barbecue going on and lots of activity adding tarpaulin to a new hut. Children and dogs running around and having fun. I must stress this little piece of land is hardly Eden. It’s dark, dank and sandwiched between two large sections of a cemetery. However…
On Tuesday I took the dogs on the public lane at the side of this new compound so as to be able to read one of the many notices attached to the railing and the trees. I heard the barking first and realised I’d been hearing it for days. A loose Doberman. A guard dog. I read one of the signs and did a fast one out of there of what is usually a pretty place to walk.
So the signs? ‘Notice of claim for for adverse possession’. Basically a kind of squatters rights in which you can claim land or property if you have been there 10 years or more. Google explains it well but it’s a legal loophole that obviously the wise, or the greedy or the gypo knows about.
Northern rail cleared a large part of the area and a certain community have moved in like greasy rats. Sniffing the air and sensing an opportunity of something for nothing.
I hope the veterans down there not only turn in their graves but rise every night and make their thoughts known. I hope gypsy Rose Lee chokes on her tea leaves.