Running the gauntlet...

Or, how not to get wiped out when cutting the beech hedge by drivers who seem to think that 30mph is a suggestion, rather than a mandatory maximum!

Yesterday, Kevin and I decided that we needed to give the beech hedge its annual haircut. This hedge forms our boundary with the village road; there is a pavement, but it is very narrow and is even narrower when the beech has had a full summer's growth, not to mention the invasive ash seedlings that pop up here and there, or the brambles that stick out to attack the unwary.

So, armed with the electric hedge trimmer, long handled pruners, a rake, yard broom and snow shovel (the latter makes a great 'dustpan'), we pushed the green wheelie bin out so that it was just over the curb and began the assault.

Almost immediately, three cars came past, going up through the village on our side of the road, and they were definitely not doing 30. Nooo - I reckon that they were doing at least 40mph and the drivers seemed surprised that there were actually people on the pavement. The bend before the cottage makes it difficult to see whether there are people or parked cars but still people gun past us. 
The village road is narrow, and there is a point just before our cottage where two vehicles can only just get past each other - the clash of wing mirrors is one of the sounds that we didn't really expect to hear in a quiet Devon hamlet, but it happens a lot. It has happened to us, when despite pulling the Landrover over so that the passenger side was almost in the hedge, an SUV clipped and broke our driver's side mirror (electric, colour-coded and expensive to replace - thanks so much, that driver!).

Anyway, we became adept at hopping back into the beech hedge at the sound of any approaching vehicle but the point is that we shouldn't HAVE to do this. We were on the pavement, not in the road and yet we still felt incredibly vulnerable.

At the beginning of September, we had a water meter fitted; for two days, there was a Transit van outside the cottage, with plastic barriers to protect the workers. The difference in the speed of passing traffic was incredible - most went past really slowly, others at a modest 25-30mph. A couple had to noisily apply their brakes (N.B. not all would-be racers are kids, I've spotted middle-aged drivers charging past us).

There have been talks at the Parish Council meetings for months about a Community Speedcheck being set up - I'll be the first to volunteer! If the speeders are locals, they should know better - they know that livestock/tractors/cyclists are likely to be around any bend in the road. On a stretch that is de-restricted, just outside the village, Kevin was toddling along at 30mph past my friend Helen's cottage; he was going slowly in case she was trying to get her car in or out. Instead of Helen, he had a doe leap across the road in front of him. If he'd been going any faster, he said, there would have been venison all over his bonnet.

Why the need to rush through our pretty little village so quickly? Surely a brief spell of 30mph isn't going to make THAT much difference to your journey!