Sir, - I wish to fully endorse Mrs Lesley Whiteside's concern (August 23rd) about losing the wildness of the canal banks. The canals and rivers of Ireland serve as wildlife corridors in an increasingly tormented "natural" environment.
All my life, I have studied and enjoyed the wildlife, particularly wildflowers, of our highways and byways. The canal towpaths are some of the last remaining areas of soil where seed banks have built up undisturbed over the past century and where one may still enjoy seeing wild flowers grow throughout their natural cycle. The names of these wildflowers I was privileged, I now realise, to be taught in a matter-of-fact fashion while out walking with my interested mother. How many young parents would be able to pass on such knowledge to the current generation of small children as the outdoor living textbooks continue to disappear?
Half-a-century later, after enjoying and cultivating such a wonderful interest and learning to appreciate the need for biodiversity in our natural environment, I find myself with mobility and sensory disabilities, and for somebody who used to be able to scramble and climb over any surface of lovely Ireland, I am now restricted to "flatlands". Canal towpaths are one of my favourite places where I am still able to commune with nature.
With empathy and a sympathetic, non-invasive management strategy, our canals will serve us once again, but this time in a recreational and educational fashion as they become an important environment of solace, away from the chaos of modern living. May I here also make a plea that all surfacing of the paths and approaches be always kept suitable for the use of people with mobility difficulties, including wheelchair users. - Yours, etc., Eleanor De Eyto,
Newtown, Trim, Co Meath.