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Would poet Browning be averse to the outbreak of Wilmslow rats?

Vic Barlow
4/ 6/2008

"THEY fought the dogs and killed the cats, and bit the babies in the cradles ...

"And ate the cheeses out of the vats,

"And licked the soup from the cooks’ own ladles,

"Split open the kegs of salted sprats,

"Made nests inside men’s Sunday hats,

"And even spoiled the women’s chats,

"By drowning their speaking with shrieking and squeaking,

"In fifty different sharps and flats."

What do you suppose inspired Robert Browning to write such descriptive verse?

Were he alive today it could be a visit to the Colshaw Farm Estate, or a trip to Alderley Edge where one house is reported to have a population of at least 80 rats.

"Wheelie bins are like rats’ dinner time," said one parish councillor.

Another horrified Tytherington resident e-mailed to say rats regularly criss-cross her lawn on the way to and from their various feeding stations.

Must we suffer the usual rounds of excuses before the council face facts and recommence the weekly collection of rubbish?

We all know where this is heading. We’ll have months of denial, then a change of tack, before blaming it all on central government, followed by a frantic rejection of culpability when there’s an outbreak of disease.

To be honest, we’d be better off talking to the rats – at least they might listen.

Of course rats have been around forever. They just haven’t been seen in such numbers or in such close proximity over such a widespread area.

Before we have an epidemic, can we PLEASE get to grips with this problem and save both the public health and the council from humiliation?

Or Robert Browning’s words may yet come true:

"At last the people in a body,

"To the town hall came flocking,

"Tis clear," cried they, "our mayor’s a noddy",

"And, as for our corporation – shocking."

The views expressed on this page are Vic Barlow's and not necessarily those of the Express

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