Lost for Words wrote:

Think I'll set up a campaign to close the A303 because it's being damaged by all the holiday traffic.

Doesn't it effectively close itself most Bank Holidays?

euangibson wrote:

What she has spectacularly failed to acknowledge is that it's a "road" (ancient byway) and has been for centuries...if she's a walker (and I am too) she has far more freedom to go where she wants..why is she so determined to follow a man-made route,and ban others from doing so

Guy wrote:

Lost for Words wrote:

Think I'll set up a campaign to close the A303 because it's being damaged by all the holiday traffic.

Doesn't it effectively close itself most Bank Holidays?

Yup.

It's got worse at Stonehenge too since they closed the direct road and the new traffic lights on the Amesbury roundabout have made it worse generally too. They've had years to sort it all out.

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Partickpebbles wrote:

Mr.Tom wrote:

From the sounds of it, it's a good job I did not see it. I would have just ended up shouting at the TV

Agree!

It's on bbc iplayer now! if you two want to catch up!

DG wrote:

The sad thing is that these type of organisations are successfully shouting the loudest and getting the lanes shut down to traffic.

What are we to do ?

We need to self-police, and that means been prepared to blow the whistle on any infringements we know about.

When it snowed after Christmas, I took my Defender, the dogs, and my camera to the Goyt Valley, to take some snow pictures. On my way down into the Goyt, I spotted fresh tracks in the snow, off the road. someone had been playing around and making a right mess. I then came upon a white Freelander stuck in the snow, about 20 yards up a bank, away from the road, and plenty of evidence that the driver had been causing much damage.

I also noticed a group of ramblers gathering around the stuck vehicle, who were obviously not happy with his presence. I took it upon myself to get the telephoto lens hooked up, and took the following photographs. Needless to say, I was fully equipped with ropes, spade, warm blankets etc, but I took great pleasure in leaving him him right where he was, up to his chassis in , and to the wrath of the gathering crowd.

I then emailed them to Sue Smith who is the Access and ROW officer for the Peak District NPA. She was good enough to respond, and it was included in the Greenlanes Newsletter that the NPA produce. I don't know if a prosecution was forthcoming?

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Gareths Email to ROW wrote:

Dear Sue

Like many others today, I decided to take the camera, and the dogs and drive up to the Goyt Valley to enjoy the snow. I am a responsible user of green lanes, and have been involved in green lane driving, walking, and riding for over 20 years. I am a member of GLASS, and fully support the efforts of all to preserve the green lanes for all to use in a sustainable manner.

I am very aware of the problems you face with irresponsible drivers and riders using the countryside as a playground, and fully support any action you can take against the individuals concerned. I am not in favour of the generalised ‘ban them all’ approach that some seem to follow.

I regularly use the Goyt to walk in with my dogs, and have previously seen the damage caused by riders and drivers using the land surrounding the roads as an ad-hoc off road course. I share your inevitable frustration that there are people out there prepared to risk the entire leisure pursuit of thousands of responsible people by abusing the land.

Imagine my surprise today when saw a 4x4 vehicle driving up and down the grass bank adjacent to the reservoir, causing immense damage to the ground underneath. Then he got stuck! So as I had the camera with me, I decided to take some photographs (attached) Needless to say, despite me being in a suitably equipped Land Rover, I had to leave him to the wrath of the approaching walkers, who were not too happy at his predicament.

Please use the photographs as evidence, and if ever there was an example to be had, you now have it.

I would like to be able to continue to responsibly drive in the countryside, and one less lunatic will do us all a lot of good. Please feel free to contact me if necessary.

Kind regards

Gareth Roberts

Quote:

Dear Gareth

Thank you for your email and for sending us those photos. I’m sorry for the delay in replying but I’ve been off work for a bit.

It’s incredibly frustrating and disheartening to hear of damage such as this. It also has the effect of all vehicle users being seen as irresponsible when in fact it’s only a few and this then causes problems for many.

Our Area Ranger has been working with the landowner to try to limit vehicles going off tracks in this area and I’d like to pass your photos on to him to see if this tallies with other reports he’s had. I’d also like to pass them on to the police although it’s likely that they will have received other reports judging from the number of walkers out and about. I’m also planning reporting it in this month’s newsletter. Some suggested wording is below and I’ll use your second photo if you’re happy with that

Irresponsible Use
We know that only a small number of motorised users think that they need not keep to legal tracks. Unfortunately this then affects how responsible users can be viewed.

One responsible user was so unimpressed by the actions of this person driving down the reservoir that he left him to his fate when he got stuck and provided us with the photos to try to get the message across that use such as this is unacceptable.

I hope to get the newsletter out tomorrow. Would you be able to come back to me by then please.

Many thanks for getting in touch and we’ll see what we can do to improve things.

Sue

DG wrote:

The sad thing is that these type of organisations are successfully shouting the loudest and getting the lanes shut down to traffic.

What are we to do ?

The only real option left to us is that if you see a group of ramblers using a byway, do you best to run as many over as you possibly can.

Lukey wrote:

Sorry to bring politics into this but the BBC is a Marxist, Liberal Leftie based organisation unfortunately funded by us mugs called fee payers. So do expect the same politics to prevail in any discussion on this sort of subject. They have one answer, NO. No one should have any freedom of choice whatever the pros and cons unless it fits their way of thinking. Notice as well that at every opportunity they drop in the undecided and controversial subject of GLOBAL WARMING aka. CLIMATE CHANGE, they cannot help themselves. Just for the time being use the same LOGIC that we always have against brainwashed nutters.
Rant Over, Thankyou.


Lukey.

And that bright red, RED ..... Paxo Paxman was the most Marxist of them all.
He was probably a Trot to boot.
Wasn't he?
What?
A One Nation Tory?
Neeeevvvver !
Thinking of running for Mayor of London on a Tory ticket?
.............
.