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Sanctuary
Sanctuary
4670 posts

Re: Silbury Hill trespassers
Jan 07, 2013, 16:17
Evergreen Dazed wrote:
Sanctuary wrote:

So it's a pointless exercise then. They may as well reinstaste the old chalk track which we all walked up when I was younger and just maintained it as and when. Works for the banks of the Great Circle. They can then turn their attention to the roof of the WKLB which has been worn away but nobody seems to care a fig about that!


Oh, they do. Watch this space! (well, not this space, but you get my drift)


Yes I know about the remedial work planned but it's never bothered them in the past has it!
Mustard
1043 posts

Edited Jan 07, 2013, 16:19
Re: Silbury Hill trespassers
Jan 07, 2013, 16:18
Evergreen Dazed wrote:

How much would 24hr security cost a year, £60/£70k? (Complete guess)

I'd guess at around £150,0000 just on staffing costs. Three shifts every day, two people per shift. Then when you factor in all the other costs - maintenance, insurance, transport - it starts mounting up real quick. I just don't see that kind of money ever being spent. I certainly don't see people paying in sufficient numbers to put a dent in the costs.
Sanctuary
Sanctuary
4670 posts

Re: Silbury Hill trespassers
Jan 07, 2013, 16:21
Mustard wrote:
Sanctuary wrote:
Mustard wrote:
Sanctuary wrote:
That's what I said!

But that's never going to happen, is it? EH aren't about to shell out that kind of dosh.


So it's a pointless exercise then. They may as well reinstaste the old chalk track which we all walked up when I was younger and just maintained it as and when. Works for the banks of the Great Circle. They can then turn their attention to the roof of the WKLB which has been worn away but nobody seems to care a fig about that!

That might be the only viable solution. Personally, I'd fence it off as discretely as possible and see if that reduces numbers down to a level where damage is negligible. If that doesn't work, then the only option is to live with the fact that people will climb the hill, and do whatever's possible to mitigate any potential damage - like putting a footpath up it.


That's what I would do as I've said on a previous discussion. Got the usual replies that they wouldn't always stick to the path, but I bet most would if it's easier walking.
Mustard
1043 posts

Re: Silbury Hill trespassers
Jan 07, 2013, 16:23
Sanctuary wrote:

That's what I would do as I've said on a previous discussion. Got the usual replies that they wouldn't always stick to the path, but I bet most would if it's easier walking.

I agree. The only problem I can see is that if you put a path in, then it would encourage people to climb the hill. If the small percentage of people who deviate from the path is bigger than the number of people who currently climb the hill, then the exercise would have been counter-productive. I guess sometimes there's just no ideal solution.
Evergreen Dazed
1881 posts

Re: Silbury Hill trespassers
Jan 07, 2013, 16:24
Mustard wrote:
Evergreen Dazed wrote:

How much would 24hr security cost a year, £60/£70k? (Complete guess)

I'd guess at around £150,0000 just on staffing costs. Three shifts every day, two people per shift. Then when you factor in all the other costs - maintenance, insurance, transport - it starts mounting up real quick. I just don't see that kind of money ever being spent. I certainly don't see people paying in sufficient numbers to put a dent in the costs.


What i'm about to say might sound very distasteful, but if it *is* such an important monument (as we know it is) and if it *does* need protection, then it needs money, so it needs a marketing team telling american/japanese/german people all about it, and getting them coming to the Avebury area in the numbers that Stonehenge sees.

Now, i'm well aware that most people wouldn't want that to happen to Avebury, (I dont think the village could take it, tbh) so what are we left with?
Evergreen Dazed
1881 posts

Re: Silbury Hill trespassers
Jan 07, 2013, 16:29
Evergreen Dazed wrote:
Mustard wrote:
Evergreen Dazed wrote:

How much would 24hr security cost a year, £60/£70k? (Complete guess)

I'd guess at around £150,0000 just on staffing costs. Three shifts every day, two people per shift. Then when you factor in all the other costs - maintenance, insurance, transport - it starts mounting up real quick. I just don't see that kind of money ever being spent. I certainly don't see people paying in sufficient numbers to put a dent in the costs.


What i'm about to say might sound very distasteful, but if it *is* such an important monument (as we know it is) and if it *does* need protection, then it needs money, so it needs a marketing team telling american/japanese/german people all about it, and getting them coming to the Avebury area in the numbers that Stonehenge sees.

Now, i'm well aware that most people wouldn't want that to happen to Avebury, (I dont think the village could take it, tbh) so what are we left with?



Do we sacrifice our *experience* of the monument in order to protect it?
Mustard
1043 posts

Re: Silbury Hill trespassers
Jan 07, 2013, 16:33
Evergreen Dazed wrote:


Do we sacrifice our *experience* of the monument in order to protect it?

It's difficult to answer that question without opening a whole can of worms! I think we have to accept that nothing lasts forever, and we can't preserve monuments in an hermetically sealed bubble. They will, inevitably, deteriorate over time - be that within a few hundred or a few thousand years. The question is where we draw the line - how much damage do we mitigate, and how do we weigh that against the ability to enjoy monuments? How many of us, for example, would be comfortable seeing the embankment at Avebury closed to visitors? That would undoubtedly help conservation, but it would significantly impact upon the ability of people to enjoy the monument.

I don't think there's any objectively right or wrong answer to these questions. I think we pretty much just have to draw an arbitrary line where we feel most comfortable.
Evergreen Dazed
1881 posts

Re: Silbury Hill trespassers
Jan 07, 2013, 16:54
Mustard wrote:
Evergreen Dazed wrote:


Do we sacrifice our *experience* of the monument in order to protect it?

It's difficult to answer that question without opening a whole can of worms! I think we have to accept that nothing lasts forever, and we can't preserve monuments in an hermetically sealed bubble. They will, inevitably, deteriorate over time - be that within a few hundred or a few thousand years. The question is where we draw the line - how much damage do we mitigate, and how do we weigh that against the ability to enjoy monuments? How many of us, for example, would be comfortable seeing the embankment at Avebury closed to visitors? That would undoubtedly help conservation, but it would significantly impact upon the ability of people to enjoy the monument.

I don't think there's any objectively right or wrong answer to these questions. I think we pretty much just have to draw an arbitrary line where we feel most comfortable.


I agree, a minefield (thats not a proposed solution btw)

All things considered, I would go with the chalk path option. Keep the monument accessable, retain the very very special atmosphere of Avebury, and strongly encourage people to use the path.
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat
6200 posts

Re: Silbury Hill trespassers
Jan 07, 2013, 17:20
Mustard wrote:
I'd guess at around £150,0000 just on staffing costs.


Which is only slightly more than EH have just said they can't afford to keep the blue plaque scheme going.
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat
6200 posts

Re: Silbury Hill trespassers
Jan 07, 2013, 17:25
Way more people would climb the hill if you put a designated path in. Way, way more. People (the majority of people anyway) generally stick to footpaths when out in the countryside, there is a strong fear of "getting caught" that most people have. Clearly there are exceptions and as we have discussed plenty of times before, people draw their personal line in different places across different contexts.

Putting a little post up with a "this way to climb Silbury" sign on it will generate a huge increase in people who will climb it. I think it would take the numbers from several dozen a year well into the hundreds.
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