New Earswick, a mile north of York, was most famous for being a model village – a social utopia of decent houses for workers and managers at Joseph Rowntree’s enlightened chocolate factory, built in the very early 1900s.
Until now. It’s now notorious as the home of the New Earswick Snakes. And the Bootham Stray Sausages. Not wildlife or deli items, but bike-path curios suddenly thrust in the world media spotlight. Well, Radio York and BBC Yorkshire, anyway.
The snakes/sausages are rock-hard ridges along the direction of travel of the hitherto smooth, car-free, flat bike path linking northern York – the Nestlé factory that makes Kit Kats, in fact – with said model village. They range in height from about 2–6cm, and in length from a few centimetres to a several metres. They’re perilous extrusions, like tree-roots’ evil mutant twins: we know of a few unlucky riders who have come a cropper on them here, tramline-like, when cycling the path in the dark.
Climate change is to blame, it seems. Long, unprecedented dry spells in the summer formed lengthways cracks in the path, wide enough to swallow a front wheel. The council diligently filled them with some sort of tarry goo.
But then, in the winter, long, unprecedented wet spells swelled the ground on either side. Like tectonic masses causing earthquakes in Japan or raising the Himalayas, the Bootham and Clifton plates squashed together again, forcing that gooey filler up and out, and forming the treacherous sausages/snakes we see now.
We first noticed them before Christmas, and alerted the council. They responded fast – thanks, guys – and put their shavers and slicers to work to level things off. But, alas, some of the lesser ones they left unskimmed – or maybe totally new ones – have since expanded or emerged.
It’s been quite exciting from a media coverage point of view. I’ve been interviewed by Radio York and BBC Yorkshire, by Highways-News.com, and even (under duress) the Daily Telegraph. (Funnily enough they didn’t quote my comment about their paper’s rabid anti-bike editorial policy and their persistent lies about cycling and cyclists.)
But let’s hope this doesn’t start a trend. Already new subspecies are developing, salamander-like strains and black pudding-esque offshoots. Will the New Earswick Sausage spread to other bike paths round Britain? Will snake-spotting and sausage-watching become a niche pastime to rival Pokémon hunting? Time will tell.
Meanwhile, I’ll see you at the excellent Folk Hall Cafe in New Earswick. Just mind how you go to get there. Beware of the Snakes, everyone. And watch out for the sausages too.