One way and another, the West Yorkshire town of Sowerby Bridge is well endowed with geese. There's Goose Nest Lane which runs from Long Lane to Hob Lane and the Hobbit Hotel. And then there are the actual geese. The Ryburn, a small river which feeds into the River Calder in the town, provides an inviting environment for a flock of twenty-five or thirty white geese, who remain all year round. They share the stream with duck and other wildlife right in the centre of the town.
If they stayed in the Ryburn, the geese might be universally popular, but they regard the town as their territory and wander en-masse all over the place. They intimidate small dogs and children. They stop traffic. They pooh outside the pubs, shit by the sports centre and defecate by... well you get the picture. Whilst they aren't a totally wild species they aren't domesticated either, belonging to nobody, so some town councellors and residents want to get rid of them.
On the other hand, plenty of people love the geese, they are well fed and provide entertainment, amusement and spectacle for locals and visitors alike. They have been there for longer than anybody can remember, they don't fly very much or very far and they know the town as well as the town knows them. They add to its character and charm.
When I last visited and took photographs the geese were behaving, they formed a picturesque congregation on the Ryburn behind a terrace of houses. If I lived in Sowerby Bridge I think I'd welcome the chance to live alongside a flock of beautiful, if sometimes arrogant and incontinent birds. Though if certain people had their way, some of these fine large geese would find their way into a fair few ovens at Christmas!
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