Reassuring

It's quite reassuring to see a huge road salt mountain once again in place, as we just about start the Autumn. Those using the Northern Relief Road can't fail to have spotted it and there will be some sighs of relief.

There was actually a very modest delivery towards the end of last winter. Until then, the salt pile was little more than a pimple, as the extremely harsh winter saw dangerously low stocks, here and elsewhere in Wales.

Impressive the mound may look but it's very difficult to tell whether it's anything like enough! With shortages all over the UK, how can the lay person actually tell whether it will go round? Especially when you consider what one of my neighbours does. Every November, he takes a drive into the country to one or more of those roadside salt heaps and helps himself. Pinching salt was surely not what people had in mind when they left it to assist road safety locally. My neighbour's by no means the only one, of course. Country folk are also prone to taking a shovel full or two. Allegedly.

Keeping the road network clear of snow has often meant that car parks aren't cleared. Main roads take priority and rightly so. This will change slightly in Rhuthun/Ruthin this winter, as the sloping Market Street car park with its steeply pitched entrance will be treated with salt. Will there be anyone foolhardy enough to venture out in extreme conditions, though? There always will be.