We're going to Shepperton (off the M3 near Woking) in March, so Mollydog can have her details taken for her sculpture. We'll be there at 10am, and it probably won't take more than an hour or so, so we thought we'd look for something interesting to do afterwards or on the way home.
Thing is, the SouthEast seems to be a monumentally un-dogfriendly place: anything that looks vaguely interesting is 'no dogs', or at best 'dogs allowed only into the peripheral areas where nothing interesting can be seen'. I was thinking perhaps RHS Wisley, but no, it's no dogs (so is Rosemoor now, I note - :-( I'm sure that's changed recently, too, and I don't know *why* - if you go there in the winter, the place is practically deserted, they'd attract more visitors if they were dogfriendly at least out of season ) . Westonbirt Arboretum is dog friendly, but that would mean coming back along the M4. which makes the journey quite a bit longer. Maybe we'll just come home and then do something locally instead. :-(
Thing is, the SouthEast seems to be a monumentally un-dogfriendly place: anything that looks vaguely interesting is 'no dogs', or at best 'dogs allowed only into the peripheral areas where nothing interesting can be seen'. I was thinking perhaps RHS Wisley, but no, it's no dogs (so is Rosemoor now, I note - :-( I'm sure that's changed recently, too, and I don't know *why* - if you go there in the winter, the place is practically deserted, they'd attract more visitors if they were dogfriendly at least out of season ) . Westonbirt Arboretum is dog friendly, but that would mean coming back along the M4. which makes the journey quite a bit longer. Maybe we'll just come home and then do something locally instead. :-(
- Current Mood:
annoyed
Page Summary
- (Anonymous) : (no subject) [+1]
kargicq : (no subject) [+6]
Comments
Give it a few more years, and I reckon you may well start seeing the same rules applied to small children. I think people are becoming increasingly intolerant of noise, mess and disorder, and generally, other people and rather than insist that rules are enforced or that consideration for other users should be observed, there is a trend to simply ban anyone or anything that they think might cause annoyance. One may walk decorously along the paths, not touching anything, and pay generously for the privilege...
Certainly any cafe that doesn't serve dog owners in the winter around here might as well close.
There's the crime argument too: dogs may leave poo, but many owners litter-pick, report crime, and discourage vandalism by simply providing an audience: that's why the Forestry Commission like and encourage dogwalkers.
The Petfood Manufacturers Association says that in 2004, there were 5.2million dog owning households in the UK.
According to statistics.gov.uk, in 2001, there were 7,220,594 families with dependent children in the UK.
This was closer than I was expecting, I must say. The PFMA also reckon that dog ownership is most common among people in their 40's and 50s. So it's possible that the audience for horticultural gardens may even be as likely to own a dog as to live with a toddler. Strange.