This reminds me of The Lady in Black.
The Woman in Black?
Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)
101–110 of 136 posts
Re: Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)
#102Many visitors to the Southern UK are surprised by the ferocity and height of the tides here. The harbour where I live effectively becomes a fast flowing river twice a day, and the height of the water varies by 30 feet or more. It is not uncommon for the boats with the smallest engines to be unable to make headway against it.
Re: Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
it's great to hear about these kinds of hidden dangers (immortalized by a wordsworth poem no less), but based on what's stated in the article, the sign shown in one of the photos seems to make the mistake of exhorting without informing (and persuading): > "danger. this pool is very dangerous. submerged rocks. diving, jumping & swimming prohibited." it seems it should say something more like "danger. hidden, swift und…
Is that a cultural difference, such that the UK tone for "proceed and you may die" takes for granted (with, presumably, support from their legal system) that the reader is at fault if they ignore the phrasing used? The US is particularly vulnerable to lawsuits seeking vengeance, and spends a lot of time agonizing over phrasing that is defensible against both literate and illiterate people. So it could be possible tha…
I don't know about UK-US, but I think I've noticed a difference between the UK and Germany in this respect: in the UK the sign tells people that something is dangerous and gives some hint of why; in Germany it just says "Verboten" with no mention of the danger, which in the UK would seem to be highly negligent and asking for legal trouble.
Something that injures a burglar could equally well injure a police officer, a fire fighter, a representative of the water company, ... it's amazing how many people can legally enter private property without the owner's permission. Of course one should be allowed to assume that such uninvited visitors are cautious professionals so you don't have to make everything childproof, but if you're aware of a serious danger yet can't be bothered to put up a warning sign ... you'd better have good insurance.
Re: Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
The one in France is the causeway to Noirmoutier island. It's a two way road that is impassable at high tide. At both ends, prominent panels display warnings, the current time and the time of the next high tide. Still, there are regular occurences of people that lose their cars and have to be rescued from the shelter poles, and, very rarely, worse. Incidentally, it's about the same length as this 3 mile path, 4.2 km.…
France also used to have Mont-Saint-Michel, but that one is no more.
Did you see the tidal causeway at Mont St Michel?
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont-Saint-Michel: “converted into a raised causeway in 1879“
Re: Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)
#105Reminded me of this one, deadly seemly little river in the UK... https://www.amusingplanet.com/2015/11/bolton-strid-stream-th... .
it's great to hear about these kinds of hidden dangers (immortalized by a wordsworth poem no less), but based on what's stated in the article, the sign shown in one of the photos seems to make the mistake of exhorting without informing (and persuading): > "danger. this pool is very dangerous. submerged rocks. diving, jumping & swimming prohibited." it seems it should say something more like "danger. hidden, swift und…
That particular sign is for a different section of the river, the strid is further upstream.
The strid: https://www.google.com/maps/@54.0038749,-1.9035917,394m/data...
The pool by the sign: https://www.google.com/maps/@53.9827603,-1.8865086,233m/data...
Re: Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
it's great to hear about these kinds of hidden dangers (immortalized by a wordsworth poem no less), but based on what's stated in the article, the sign shown in one of the photos seems to make the mistake of exhorting without informing (and persuading): > "danger. this pool is very dangerous. submerged rocks. diving, jumping & swimming prohibited." it seems it should say something more like "danger. hidden, swift und…
Is that a cultural difference, such that the UK tone for "proceed and you may die" takes for granted (with, presumably, support from their legal system) that the reader is at fault if they ignore the phrasing used? The US is particularly vulnerable to lawsuits seeking vengeance, and spends a lot of time agonizing over phrasing that is defensible against both literate and illiterate people. So it could be possible tha…
The legal system of common law and tort is pretty similar. The _culture_, on the other hand, is very different; no culture of "ambulance-chasing" (although in recent years it's been seen for road accidents, pushing up the price of everyone's insurance). No history of huge damages awards for trivial things. Not the same anti-government culture; the stream is probably owned by the local council or the waterways authority.
Re: Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)
#107Reminded me of this one, deadly seemly little river in the UK... https://www.amusingplanet.com/2015/11/bolton-strid-stream-th... .
The resurgence pool at Porth Yr Ogof (Wales) is another innocuous looking stretch of water in Britain with a sad tally of deaths associated: http://www.ogof.org.uk/porth-yr-ogof.html
'Another sinister danger in this cave is the resurgence pool, where the water leaving the cave is forced through a narrow passage, in doing so it has scoured out a 7 m deep pool with underwater ledges, this coupled with the strong undercurrents created by the flow of the water has made this the most dangerous location in any British cave. In this short section of cave 10 people have drowned all within the sight of daylight, the dangers here should not be underestimated, signs in the cave before the pool warn of the danger and direct you to alternative exits.'
Re: Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)
#108Many visitors to the Southern UK are surprised by the ferocity and height of the tides here. The harbour where I live effectively becomes a fast flowing river twice a day, and the height of the water varies by 30 feet or more. It is not uncommon for the boats with the smallest engines to be unable to make headway against it.
Corryvreckan (Scotland, but still) has one of the fiercest tidal races in the world - the story goes that George Orwell almost drowned in one of the whirlpools.
'Although not, as is sometimes believed, formally classified by the Royal Navy as unnavigable, the nearby Grey Dogs, or Little Corryvreckan, are classified as such.[1] The Admiralty's West Coast of Scotland Pilot guide to inshore waters calls it "very violent and dangerous" and says "no vessel should then attempt this passage without local knowledge". Experienced scuba divers who have explored the waters have described it as "potentially the most dangerous dive in Britain"'
Re: Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can disuse cause a public right of way to cease existing in the UK?
No.
But the government are trying to get all rights of ways registered on a definitive register by 2026. If it isn't on the list, it won't be recognised as such.
There is a high likelihood that a lot of customary rights of ways will miss the deadline.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/25/countdow...
Re: Desolate English path has killed more than 100 people (2017)
#110In Seattle, the old I90 floating bridge across Lake Washington had a "bulge" where a section of the roadway could be pushed into the bulge to make room for boat passage. When the section was retracted, the highway abruptly ended, and a barrier was put up. The Bulge was infamous for traffic accidents where you suddenly had to swerve right then left then right at highway speed, with narrow lanes lined with concrete wal…
I was curious too and found this Reddit write-up: https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/6zr2d6... Picture of the bridge. (I'm EU so couldn't view the previous link) https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/5ticw5/til_a_dange...
Here's a picture from that thread showing how it works and what it's like when it lets boats through: https://i.imgur.com/nIeXbXt.png. I skimmed a bunch of articles about the bridge to figure out how the bulge possibly worked to let boats through, and none were as useful as this diagram.
