People Power!!!..... Extra Info…..The Ness….
by Bernie Bell - 08:16 on 01 August 2023
People Power!!!...
A major success for the campaign to increase public access to the wild out-doors in England…
A message from 'Right to Roam'...
"Dear Roamers,
Today the access movement won a momentous victory after the Court of Appeal found in favour of the right to wild camp in Dartmoor National Park, restoring what was lost by an earlier decision in January.
Right to Roam, in tandem with fellow campaigners The Stars Are For Everyone, have been fighting this case from the beginning. It symbolises everything that is broken about our land conversation; with the rights of ordinary people to peacefully sleep under the stars subject to whims of a wealthy, major landowner.
Dartmoor was the last place left in England which enjoyed that simple right. Today, it has been restored.
Thousands of you joined us to march onto Stall Moor in January to oppose the ruling, or took part in rallies outside of the Royal Courts. This victory is yours.
But Dartmoor alone is not enough.
For the Right to Roam campaign, this case demonstrates two things.
- We cannot rely on flimsy bye-laws to protect our basic rights. We need a Right to Roam Act which provides an unequivocal guarantee of our right to responsibly access land and water in England, unless there is a sensible reason otherwise.
- Our right to wild camp must now be extended beyond Dartmoor. This judgement showed that the definition of open-air recreation, which is a central purpose of our National Parks, in the words of Justice Underhill, “plainly does” include a right to wild camp.
Yet at present, the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (2000) prohibits camping on access land, including most National Parks.
So we’re encouraged to see other parts of the access community are starting to adopt bolder positions on wild camping, with calls from other organisations like the British Mountaineering Council, Campaign for National Parks and the Open Spaces Society (who supported the DNPA's legal case in court) to expand camping rights to National Parks, access land and perhaps beyond.
As ever, Right to Roam will be pushing for the boldest settlement on access we can, including rights to responsible wild camping and other activities which help us to reconnect with the land.
Our desire to lie down beneath the stars is not something we should ever have to apologise for.
Jon & the Right to Roam Team"
To follow us on social media:
Twitter: @Right_2Roam
Instagram: right.2roam
Facebook: right2roam
Take me to the Right to Roam website 
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Extra Info…..
An Orkney News reader sent some additional info. about one of the pictures in this article….
https://theorkneynews.scot/2020/09/27/st-marys-walk/
“It’s an old nineteenth century gun emplacement near Skaildaquoy Point, Holm which was “manned” by a local militia, the Holm volunteers. Although it’s on a coastal path there are sadly no signs to say anything of its purpose and history.”
We’ve done that walk many times and just thought that was an exceptionally uniform lump of rock.
I added the information to the original article, and thought I’d present it individually as well – with another couple of old volunteer batteries….
https://theorkneynews.scot/2022/01/19/stromness-rocks/
https://theorkneynews.scot/2018/11/20/a-little-bit-of-orkney-history-that-i-hadnt-known-before/
So much can get lost or forgotten about the past.
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The Ness…
While on the subject of the past…..yesterday’s Dig Diary from the Ness….
https://www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/2023-day-21/
And while on the subject of ancient bones….
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-66361506
A bit farther back than the Neolithic – back to a time when the Ice Age had just about ended and the land hadn’t yet entirely ‘bounced back’ from the weight of the ice and what is now a garden in Stirling was a beach on which a dolphin had either been stranded or caught – either way – a boon to the people there at the time.
And there were people - using antler tools to cut away the meat from the carcase.
Picture it – that man can look out of his window and see his garden – or - with a time shift……
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Here’s one I made earlier…. https://theorkneynews.scot/2022/05/29/circadian-rhythms-light-darkness/
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