The Greenwich Foundation is proposing to place a safety mesh across a stretch of Victorian iron railings on the Thames Path.
The Foundation, a charity established to maintain the Old Royal Naval College, has identified a section of the Grade II listed railings in the “knuckle” of the river wall opposite the statue of Lord Nelson as a potential hazard to children.
A planning application for “improvements” would see panels of stainless steel mesh placed across the decorative railings on the river side “to prevent children falling through”.
When asked if the application was in response to any specific incident, a spokesperson for the Foundation told Greenwich.co.uk that the proposal was a “precautionary measure”.
Photo from the planning application showing the railings with a temporary mesh in place.
Thanks to Jim for the use of the photo at the beginning of the article.
How nice it is to have a piece of cheap chicken wire from B+Q across those wonderful cast iron railings?
First question, just how small do these stupid children have to be to fall ‘through’ these gaps?
Secondly, having looked at the pics and thinking about it, who gave the permission for the benches to be placed there in the first place?
and finally, if this is to stop unsupervised children hurting there poor little selves, what’s to stop the little darlings poking their fingers through the holes and potentially, breaking them?
I won’t even get onto the question of who is supposed to be looking after the kids in the first place. Did someone say ‘Parental Supervision/responsibility’?
Typical health and safety gone made issue
How many children in the last 100 years or so have fallen through? Probably none!
Why is there this need to wrap us in cotton wool the whole time?
I love the fact that a small person is being walked up the stairs!
Public Safety Risk Assessments are the cause of this – don’t blame Health & Safety – blame the Insurance Companies!
The question is; why this section and not the rest of the path? And who is putting this forward? Is it because this is where trafalgar customers sit down to drink and leave their bored kids play? If that is the case then is not a health and safety issue. I remember when we were not allowed to take our drinks out. Nothing against the outside expansion of the trafalgar. The place looks lovely in a warm summer evening. But if that is the reason there is no call to use health and safety risk which apply only to this part of the river as if by magic.
Maybe it’s just that they have too much money and their workmen are standing around looking for work.
What about putting backs on the benches that are there instead? Or are the little tykes likely to get behind them and still manage to squeeze their way through the gaps and therefore fall into the river?
I know I’m getting old and cynical but I think it’s to stop glasses falling through and getting ‘Lost’.
Hi Marcelo:
“why this section and not the rest of the path?”
I think it is the design of the railings in that particular section which has been identified as a hazard by the Greenwich Foundation.
“And who is putting this forward?”
It is being put forward by the Greenwich Foundation – a charity set up to run and look after the Old Royal Naval College.
There is only one reason why stupid like this happen. People in these organizations must always be seen to be pushing some project, however pointless.
The worst thing you could say is ‘Whilst I was in charge of such and such Trust, everything was fine so I just managed and maintained what was there’. For better to say ‘in my time at the Greenwich Foundation, we astro turfed the Grand Square and put nappies on the pigeons.
Has any child, through the centuries, ever fallen through the gaps in those railings?
To be honest I don’t like the look of the mesh any more that the rest of you, but something on this page is a little more disturbung than chicken wire stretched over old railings.
“stupid children” and “hurting there (their) poor little selves” have an edge of sinister to them.
I mean, sure blame Health and Safety, blame the parents even blame society if you fancy but the fact of the matter is that children run around, a lot, and they aren’t able to complete a full risk assessment before doing so.
The problem is clearly that this section has more space for running around, has a family pub with benches sited outside it and obviously this could lead to parents being distracted by a combination of their company, the drinks in their glasses and more importantly the drinks in their blood stream.
Like I said at the start, if you want someone to blame then I’d take my pick from parents not supervising their children properly and someone’s wise decision to convert a riverside path to a pub beer garden, just not the kids, after all, somewhere in your very distant past I’m sure you used to run around like a complete maniac with no thought for your own safety.