GLEN CRAIG ART

Forth Road Bridge Closure.

I made the train station on time and tomorrow we will reverse the order and I will deliver Janet to the station for her commute to Edinburgh. I know peoples routines and lives have been radically altered by Forth Road Bridge closure, but.... It has got to be for the benefit of all concerned. I of course mean that our environment and our lifestyle has improved. Not by choice... No, No! By default of a fractured girder. 80,000 vehicles have stopped crossing the bridge, and the alternatives are public transport, or drive for a lot, lot, lot longer. It occurs to me that the failed steelwork has tapped us on the shoulder and said "there is a better way". That means investing in our public transport systems, making hard choices about our travel needs and changing our priorities. Archie Duncanson, author of 'Ecology Begins At Home' gives an interesting spin on our individual power of choice and I have inserted his table on pollution rates. Trains have a much smaller footprint than cars and ....



if all the traffic were cars, and... if we all now commute by train.... we reduce pollution by 77,500 less car journeys every day. It is not a choice, it is a must. Perhaps after the long closure of the road bridge we will have developed better habits and stick to them. Perhaps!

 

"Anyway" I hear you cry... "What about the new watercolours you promised" Yes, yes, I just thought the planet is worth saving and paintings? Important, yes, but pail before the opportunity to slow down the consumption of non renewables.

 

On  a lighter note, a watercolour finished a few weeks ago which I have titled 'The colour of summer'. It is inspired by the landscape of the Isle of Tiree and the very distinctive architecture of the Islands.



Watercolour on Paper 'The Colour of Summer' by Glen Craig