In article ,
Martin Brown wrote:

....
They enjoy tarring and feathering roads in autumn ...

Good expression! Very accurate.

Mind: it's got to the state now where we are grateful even for the
tarring and feathering.

BTW: the road they are closing was (*miraculously*!!) *properly*
resurfaced in 2015 (i.e. closed, planed, and whole layers laid down.
We suspect they're going to close it because BT want to dig a trench the
whole length of this new, silky, road in order to lay fibre. Progress.

J.