In the Woods

Before the interventionists had their wicked way the woods gave plenty of evidence that they were just fine. Some places where trees were very closely spaced and others where the canopy allowed more light to penetrate. Underneath the beeches little else grows although autumn shows a decent presence of fungi.

Deer are not seen there so much as where there's a good quantity of low shrubbery.

Other animals have escaped from captivity more recently and are wandering on the road and in these woods proving that even with the new grazier on Houndkirk and Burbage all is not quite right.

To Relent or Not to Relent.....

.....this is the question: Why speak out? Putting your head over the parapet can have consequences. You get identified by the great ones of this world, Middle Eastern Potentates, Chief Executives and the like; a measure of paranoia often goes with such exalted positions, and speaking out can damage your prospects. You may also arouse the resentment of meeker-minded folk who get nervous when the boat is rocked and prefer blind allegiance to the status quo. But a quiet life is just what I favour so have a little sympathy with the sheep – even the ground nesting variety.

As for prospects there’s some value in having none anyway (my position) which denies the said Potentates and CEOs one means of silencing criticism. In a comment under a recent post, one CEO, SWT’s Nigel, accused me of having a ‘relentlessly hostile attitude’ (Nigel’s words) on this blog. Is he not getting a bit touchy? what so gets up Nigel’s nose, is hardly that. He would obviously prefer something more deferential in my attitude as against the occasional bit of irony and a little taking the p*** at his expense. But I guess that what really peeves is that I insist on applying some moderately detailed scrutiny to what he and his people get up to on Blacka. If that troubles him I have to assume that he lives in a world where he thinks he has a right to only uncritical esteem and reverence. Maybe wildlife trusts don’t get enough examination and analysis from the media. Anyway, if I’ve been unable to resist certain temptations then he should remember it was he and his allies who were the first people to start making the dispute a personal one rather than a difference of policy and vision.
Readership of this blog would be astonished and surely disappointed if I suddenly resorted to slavish admiration of the sort he may crave for himself (and perhaps gets from devoted minions).
But a central plank of this blog has been opposition to most of what SWT represents. No apologies for that. I could write a long boring post explaining why but not now-if I’ve not already made that clear I will get round to it some time. I could also spend a lot of time discussing choice of words. Opposition is not always the same as hostility. The latter suggests personal animosity. At one time I certainly was tempted to feel that: In 2007 SWT’s response to opposition was to go in for high-handed institutional defamation. That’s more what I would call hostility than the pretty tame stuff I go in for. I wonder, by the way, if Nigel regrets the way he handled that. He could of course be too proud to admit it. My indignation then was justified. In fact I have thought since that my reaction should have been stronger. This had not been the first personal attack. But I was never fully sure how much was down to calculation and how much to inexperience or incompetence. Eventually a long time later, a kind of apology was wrung out of Nigel in public at a council meeting. By then it was too late.

But, at risk of doing what I said I wouldn't, I will mention one central objection I have to SWT and therefore to Nigel. I don’t call this hostility, simply determined opposition. I just don’t like the attitude SWT have to Blacka Moor. Observation tells me they just don’t care enough. I judge this by the SSCA test. This is my own measure of care and effectiveness in the local neighbourhood. It stands for Streetforce Standard and Criteria Assessment. Everyone in Sheffield has a personal story about Streetforce. Mine is about the long area of public grass verge along the pedestrian walkway near my house. Streetforce are supposed to maintain and care for it but my neighbour and I have to do it ourselves because we've noticed Streetforce can’t be bothered. Eventually after many phone calls you may get to talk to a manager and something gets done –the absolute minimum and just once before it reverts to normal. SWT score well on the SSCA. They show little if any sense of proprietorial responsibility, no evidence that they really care about Blacka. To them it’s just another job. This is a malady of the spirit, a deficiency rooted in a mindset that sees the place as providing a service to the organisation rather than the other way round. That’s been so evident over many years that I can’t see how it can be denied. I can imagine the kind of excuses that would get made to explain this but there are so many examples most but not all of them small. You can forgive one or two incidents but as with Streetforce eventually give up.

The reasons that this is more lamentable with SWT are:
1 that SWT has been given this land because they claimed they could make a much better job of it than the council, so we should be expecting more.
2 that I have always believed a charity would be run by people who go the extra mile, and not just ‘when time allows’.
3 the mismatch between SWT’s self promotional publicity telling us how wonderful the place is and the evidence suggesting they scarcely care at all.

Part of the mission of this blog has been to expose that mindset. Put simply, places like this need vision, care, respect and love and there’s no reason why you can’t give that just because it’s your job or career.

I now relent - for a while.

Odd Appeal

The appeal of walking is rarely analysed. Like most of the best things in life it has complexity. Still, some of the elements can be extracted.

One of these is the slow progress that encourages lingering and dwelling on the detail of close and distant views. The sight of a narrow path ahead twisting around a bend into the mist is a particular favourite.

A Puzzle

The canoodling seats recently installed on Blacka have another odd feature about them. Staples have been driven into the surface. Why? There must be a good reason or is that expecting too much?

Staples are routinely used to prevent boots slipping on wooden steps etc.

Were the staples put on benches as a concession to more puritan voices - intended to discourage those canoodlers from getting too comfortable in such a public place? Or indeed, going quite the other way, an encouragement for those who prefer this kind of tactile addition to their relaxation?

What next on Blacka?

Hold Tight

Just as we have kissing-gates close by it's only appropriate that further contact should be encouraged by what I think we should call courting-seats. SWT have installed mini-benches that are of ample size for one but two would need either to take turns or arrange one on the lap of the other.

Alien

It could have been a wagon train or a line of alien invaders standing out white against the dull brown of Houndkirk Moor. If we had spotted a tree there it would have been about as startling. In fact we were seeing a line of bales for collecting heather to be used for re-seeding some of the eroded sections of Peak District moorland. This activity helps to keep the conservation workers busy. Alien invaders of another kind are also welcome for much the same reason.


Aliens would have been more interesting.

Some other noteworthy features of the local managed environment were on view in the pasture land. Visitors who only come out in the warmer and lighter months will soon be flocking here to see one of the district's finest examples of a surface livestock latrine.

Trucking

The Peak District National Park is not only the busiest National Park in the country but also the most exploited. I draw a distinction between those who eke out a living individually such as a modest small businesses, a dairy farmer on his own land or a shop owner in Bakewell and those who are part of a much greater and more organised national or international enterprise whose commitment to growth means that, unfettered, they will continue to make a greater impact. I put in the latter category those whose business activities are of a significance that impacts significantly on the National Park and which usually promotes itself aggressively using PR techniques and even legal enforcement in some cases. Use of these tools for me defines exploitation, a term I interpret as indicating something more systematic and industrial. Among those who should be considered as in this category are the conservation industry itself and also to an extent certain leisure industries such as mountain biking and of course we shouldn't leave out the grouse moor owners and tenants. But the most significant of these by far is the quarrying industry.

When quarrying gets in the news it's usually the impact on the land that's being quarried that receives attention in the media. This is where the two rival industries of conservation and quarrying go head to head. But quarries impact in other ways too. A petition was presented to the South Community Assembly recently asking for a council ban on HGVs using Bocking Lane. This alarmed other people living on Abbey Lane who feared that would lead to the same traffic then using their road. Residents near Abbeydale Road also lobbied because they too were concerned about a possible increase of traffic and pollution if drivers decided to re-route there. All of this followed a previous decision in Derbyshire to stop the same vehicles going through the village of Holmesfield. These HGVs are nearly all carrying limestone from Derbyshire quarries towards the M1. probably going north. Those heading south will tend to join the M1 at Chesterfield. These vehicles get out early in the morning to avoid the worst congestion and may then return empty later in the day. As the northern boundary of Blacka runs along the A625 you can't ignore these vehicles when exploring that part of the site.
A blanket speed restriction ruthlessly enforced would reduce the impact somewhat but the problem should really be dealt with at source - while there's something left of it: by agreeing what a national park is for before it's all transported along the motorway.