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Climbing on Standing Stones
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Resonox
604 posts

Re: Climbing on Standing Stones
Jan 14, 2012, 08:19
Lubin wrote:
You make a good point there but I don't really think it is members of "The Ramblers" who are doing the damage. It is more likely , on Dartmoor anyway , to be locals who have just wandered on the moor for a stroll and have no idea what the Cairn is or what they are doing. Another particular thing that has happened on Dartmoor is the Kist in the centre of the Cairn Circle at Sousons being used as a fire place. Again more than likely just someone who has no idea what they are looking at and thinks it will be a good place for a barbecue.

As Sweetcheat says there are countless castles/sites etc which are used(and abused) by locals as their personal picnic area...try visiting Bramber Castle remains on a Bank Holiday...there are fires, family football matches and piles of litter left at the end of the day(there are signs that late night activities also abound there...burnt foil, empty beer cans and used johnnies...oh and the seemingly obligatory proliferation of spent tea-lights) and this is all despite signage...but let an "incomer" try that behaviour...all hell is let loose. They might be ignorant of history but they are ignorant of history NIMBYs.
Cairns do seem to be fair game to those who maybe don't know better...probably because some cairns are relatively new piles...it used to be common practice to start a cairn to mark places you had rested just after the war if you were a walker or even in a cycling club and others followed suit....but can you imagine the logistic nightmare trying to differentiate between a say, Bronze age and a 1940/50/60/70 cairn and put up signs to point this out . BTW the Barrow on Redstone Hill Redhill Surrey seems to get its fair share of fires lit upon it....yet there are fragments of what appear to be Bronze/Iron age style pottery risen to the surface....the local "archeological" society couldn't be less interested if they tried. I photographed these bits but left them in situ....it tasks my patience and I feel that removing them for safety would be somehow wrong...yet I feel I must do something as these bits are prone to even more damage...from the elements as well as the bonfire building brigade....any advice appreciated!
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