What Everyone Knows ...

.....But nobody bothers to think about.  Many notables have had to contend with this effect over the centuries . Not just Galileo.   

Unquestioned assumptions are the bread and butter of local functionaries. If they get tempted to challenge those assumptions they're in the wrong job.

One common assumption  is that Rhododendron ponticum is a BAD THING. Even the most ignorant countryside user can't fail to have picked up on the prevailing wisdom that this shrub must be ERADICATED. In this it comes into the same discourse as Himalayan Balsam, Japanese Knotweed, Oxford Ragwort and the Grey Squirrel. Eradicators of the world unite. There may be grants.

So just to reiterate what EVERYONE KNOWS, Rhododendron ponticum is a BAD THING because it is ...

1 INVASIVE: it's not content to stay where it is; so, left to itself, it spreads over a wide area.
2 NOT GOOD FOR OTHER FLORA AND FAUNA: Insects, birds and other species prefer birch and oak, etc.
3 and, thirdly, (warning UKIP alert!!!), it is ALIEN: it is an undesirable immigrant coming here to take advantage of our favourable soils and disadvantaging the native population. Having found life a struggle in its own land it's come to claim for itself the easy benefits of British conditions. 

This is not a prelude to professing total disbelief in the wisdom of this. (Well the last one is a bit over-egged.) The problem, as mentioned earlier, is what it does to the brains of local functionaries. They make a jump from 'undesirable' to advocating persecution whatever the collateral damage. There is no room in their thinking for a situation of such exception that its uniqueness ought to be valued despite the prevailing wisdom. Because we have a unique situation here. The wood off Hathersage Road is a delight. And one of the key reasons it is so fine is the belt of Rhododendron that surrounds.

These are just some of the reasons why SWT should desist from persecuting this Rhododendron.

1 There has been discussion about this in the past with some measure of agreement (which was then unilaterally ignored)
2 The surrounding evergreen shelter belt at this height above sea level and surrounded by bleak open landscapes creates a superb wildlife-friendly refuge attracting birds and mammals.
3 The experience of entering the enclosed woodland is (or was) akin to entering a secret garden, one that has, entrancingly, gone wild with numerous views reminiscent of fairy tales and the illustrations of Arthur Rackham. (That experience has already been ruined by the destruction of the narrow opening into the wood).
4 The Rhododendron helped to seal the wood from the nearby main road by moderating and partially absorbing the vehicle sound.
5 The process of clearing the evergreens is so disruptive of the character of the wood that the benefits do not outweigh the advantages.
6 Our experience of seeing the way that SWT goes about work like this (or any work) is that they are utterly disorganised and invariably create ugliness anywhere there was once natural beauty. Better to do nothing than the rank insensitivity of their meddling.
7 There is an alternative way of preventing the spread of the shrub belt without destroying the charm and value for wildlife. That is to say “So far and no further”.
8 The present campaign of devastation has already been going on for more than 2 years and shows no gain for either wildlife nor amenity. But a lot of disillusion among those who used to love this wood.