Kissing gate

This is a galvanised steel kissing gate. It is one of many installed in recent weeks along the Shropshire Way, replacing wooden stiles which were mainly in perfectly good order. The installation has been done by contractors on behalf of Shropshire Council. and its team of workmen managed to use these gates to reduce the width of farm gateways and didn't replace wire fences, thus allowing stock to roam. Evidently this money has been spent because of the anticipated interest in nearby Much Wenlock as a result of the London 2012 Olympic Games. So far, so good, so expensive, so incompetent.

Today, Shropshire Council announced the planned closure of nine schools because of falling pupil numbers and funding shortages. This includes one just up the road - the highly-regarded and much-loved Barrow Church of England Primary School. I wonder how many schools could have been saved by some joined-up thinking by Shropshire councillors spending money on education rather than on needless alterations to footpath furniture?