Blackburn

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Floss
Posts: 29
Joined: 26 Dec 2020 22:08
Country: United Kingdom

Blackburn

Post by Floss »

Yesterday I made a foray into Blackburn, tempted by the series of zones along the canal and the close proximity of the 40 odd zones in the town to each other.

Never again!
I say this not because the towpath is muddy and rutted, or because Blackburn is seriously hilly, or because of the 10km of pointless cycling back along the towpath: I know about all these things before I left home.

Its because so few of the Blackburn zones and the routes between them are in paces I want to be.

There seems to be a big litter problem in some parts of the town with refuse sacks piling up on street corners, and plenty of petty vandalism. (I'll put a detailed list of zone issues in the next post.) There was nowhere I felt comfortable stopping for lunch so I didn't until I got back to the canal at around 2pm.

To be fair, the town centre zones are mostly OK but then I am not really a town centre sort of person.

Is this an issue for others too or am I just being a wuss?

Can we request a wholesale removal of zones from one part of town to another?

Are there any decent parts of Blackburn to move the zones to?

Corporation Park looks OK for a few.
Witton Park & Billinge Hill I used to know and would be good for walking / running but maybe not so much for cycling (except for the bottom part maybe).
Beardwood and Cherrytree I think are OK neighbourhoods but maybe without much scope for zones.
The canal could always stand a few more.

Any other suggestions? I do not know the East of Blackburn at all.
Floss
Posts: 29
Joined: 26 Dec 2020 22:08
Country: United Kingdom

Re: Blackburn

Post by Floss »

Comments on individual zones:

Aqueduct Round, Harrison Rec - Adequate
Sound of train - Meh - railway underpass just before the zone is unpleasant
Spiritualist - why is this on a busy dual carriageway? Plenty of open space for a zone on either side.
Cathedral B - good
To Other Side - zone is OK but the path to Higher Audley St is disgusting - little used, full of litter and piles of bin bags. The litter & piles of binbags were a feature of a lot of Higher Audley, though not so much the zones themselves.
Outdoor Gym, Brick Stairs - zones themselves OK but litter & bin bags around
White Hill - unattractive alley
Black Hills, Sherwood Hill, Triangle Field - unattractive waste ground
Temple Doctor - very unattractive waste ground
Black Mosque - steep grassy bank, glad I could take it from the pavement
Snake Nook - OK once there
Larkhill Meet, Way to Barbara, Whalley Zone - OK
Ribble zone, Blackburn Hill, The Stairs Zone - OK but a very steep hill. I want better than OK to make it worth the effort!
Blackburn High - OK
Hard Court - appears to be private land for the sheltered housing - needs moving
OozeClimbing - unpleasant with litter and vandalism. Shame as it is a good view!
BarnabasZone - ditto but without the view
Higson Circle - disgusting litter zone. Made worse by having to wade through to the back to get a take :( Undoubtedly the worst.
Raynors Hope - OK ish
Ironwire Zone, Fountain Zone - good
Happy rock zone - good, but this should be a monument
St Annes Church - OK
Caught Barrels - I had to get uncomfortably close to the flats to take this
Blue & Green - close to school playground but probably OK
Bank Top zone - I took it from the road
Phillips view, Perth St - OK ish (by Blackburn standards)
Playpark Hills - meh - playpark vandalised & locked
Adrians Park - Looks like a nice, well maintained park but I took the zone from the road.

I didn't try for Queens Islet - given what I'd already seen nearby nothing would induce me to go paddling even on a hot day.
m@bSELOC
Posts: 15
Joined: 24 Feb 2021 18:49
Country: United Kingdom

Re: Blackburn

Post by m@bSELOC »

Just seen this post now and I know I commented on this in the app at the time, but I would concur with everything you've said Floss. The yellow zones are like sirens beckoning you onto the rocks!! It's probably the worst place I've ever been to. There was broken glass in every playground and on many of the paths. It's a miracle I didn't come away from there with shredded tyres. The only way I would go back would be to pass through it on the canal, which was generally fine
Moru
Posts: 128
Joined: 26 May 2020 18:37
Country: Sweden
Contact:

Re: Blackburn

Post by Moru »

For the seasoned turfers yellow zones (when not on a first sunday of month) is a warning light, not siren. It means the road is under water/2 meter snow/burning. The second they turn red it's a signal to the rest that it's possible to take them and then they will be taken within the hour.

So now you lean back and watch the rest of the turfers come to the zones you just warned everyone about because no one checks the forum first :-)

If the zones are badly placed, just send in a report under issues on the front page, that way the right people will be pinged and take a look. Include pictures and a new location if possible to make their job easier.

The issues button can be hard to find on a mobile device because of the layout of the start page. Just get to the Info page and you get a second menu to click:

1. Click top right menu button and select "Info".
2. Click the top row saying "Getting started" and there select "Issues".

Or type issues.turfgame.com
Turfname is EQ
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