Some two years ago, as we reminded readers recently, Rother District Council hired contractors to clean out the inside of the Landgate and remove the build-up of pigeon guano that had accumulated over many years.
This was done using high pressure water jets which removed not only the pigeon poo but also a certain amount of the Landgate as well. The logical next step would have been to protect the building’s interior from further ingress of bird life by putting a (perhaps temporary) roof on and wiring over openings in the walls. However this was not done and the pigeons, showing not an ounce of gratitude for the cleaning up of their home, have returned.
Now, with the prospect of serious work on the building becoming imminent, the cleaners are back again and the building has been subjected to a further high pressure clean up. On seeing the work in progress your reporter asked the contractors if he could go inside and see the work being undertaken. The answer was an unequivocal “No”, with the explanation that Rother had told them that no one was to be told what they were doing. Even being told that their work had been announced the previous week in this paper and now the entire town already knew what they were doing, failed to change their minds.
However, for better or worse, the clean-up has been done and the Landgate is now clean and ready for the serious work of restoration to begin in due course.
Oh….and the pigeons are back.
Photos: John Minter
Have you considered birds of prey? A resident raptor or two might do the trick with the pigeons. We had a few nesting on my old office building and the pigeon population was reduced to pigeon parts.