Today is ‘national pothole day’ and in one Cambridgeshire village it is being celebrated with a commemorative collection.
Walter Gunston toured his home village and – armed with nothing more than a camera and
dogged determination – logged more than a dozen of them.
His “THE LARGE POTHOLES OF ISLEHAM” feature attracted numerous comments when he posted his gallery of photographs to his village Facebook page.
“Here are a few pictures I’ve taken today around the village of the larger and dangerous potholes,” he says.
Adding the warning: “Be careful”.
His local Conservative county councillor Mark Goldsack was quick to react.
“As an elected councillor once reported I can chase for resolution,” he says, pointing residents to the council’s online reporting system.
“Highways are county council responsibility,” he says. “Those potholes reported must be investigated and will be classed critical, urgent etc. and then repaired accordingly.
“The current county council is run by a coalition of Lib Dem, Labour, and independent elected members.
“They are about to submit their budget for next year and I do not expect an increase in highways money but do expect a maximum increase in taxation on the residents of Cambridgeshire.”
Cllr Goldsack adds: “If you’ve reported a pothole and it’s not dealt with as expected please forward your reported POY hole number and I can and will chase through to escalation and completion.
“Looking at these pictures I can see that most if not all have been duly reported.
“Facebook is a home of gossip and sometimes helpful but actually informing county highways of pot hole details and location will expedite a solution.
“For information all please click https://highwaysreporting.cambridgeshire.gov.uk”
National Pothole Day has its own website and says today “is your opportunity to do something about those potholes, and maybe learn something about them in the process”.
National Pothole Day, it says, came about after recognition that every day there seems to be a new pothole forming on the roads “and they make your trip increasingly treacherous.
“Modern potholes are caused by wear and tear on the road caused by rain and sun and repeated travel by vehicles across the road.
“Hot-patch is often used to fix it, but often the next major rainstorm will see this temporary patch pushed right back out again as the road swells and contracts from the changing heat of the road”.
Potholes, says the organisers of National Pothole Day, are nothing new “and in fact, their name comes from the Roman roads built back in the days of the Roman Empire.
“In those days roads were built on a bed of clay, topped with gravel, and once again topped by hard-baked bricks, and potholes were where potters would break open the road’s surface to get at the good potting clay found underneath.
“This was a great source of clay for the potters and a miserable source of trouble for the chariots and wagons that travelled those roads. Pothole day reminds us of their long history, and our responsibility to help get them taken care of.”
