This-Matters….. BBC Pics of Scotland…….From ‘Right to Roam’…..
by Bernie Bell - 08:56 on 14 September 2024
This-Matters…..
The human attitude to inhabiting our home planet which caused this kind of event is still prevalent – world leaders must pay attention and do what they can – while they can.
And each individual needs to pay attention too - think about consumption and choices – and who we vote into power.
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BBC Pics of Scotland…..
6th - 13th of September 2024…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq829j8ydy5o
John Dewar’s Brocken Spectre and Liz Rodger’s Fogbow…….water droplets + light = pure magic!
Rebecca Hoskin’s sunset at the Cromarty Firth brought back memories….
https://theorkneynews.scot/2017/10/07/bernie-bell-bernie-mikes-road-trip-spring-2017-9/
And, Alistair Currie’s mention of the Crinan Basin..
https://theorkneynews.scot/2017/10/05/bernie-bell-bernie-mikes-road-trip-spring-2017-7/
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From ‘Right to Roam’….
“The Biggest Mass Trespass in History
Dear Roamers,
128 years ago this month, over 10,000 Boltonians took to the hills above their town to contest their unjust exclusion from the moor.
The land was owned by the Ainsworths, a family of local notables who had made their fortune in the slave trade. And, like many major landowners, they sought its exclusive use for the purposes of grouse shooting. Gates blocking the historic right of way were being installed. Pinned to them – a sign proclaiming the oldest lie in England: “Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted”.
What followed is sometimes called the largest “mass trespass” in British history. Though really, the people of Bolton had every right to access the hills. In their view, as local historian Paul Salveson writes this week in a feature for Tribune magazine, “those thousands of Boltonians didn’t regard themselves as ‘trespassing’ at all – they were reclaiming their rights that had been arrogantly usurped.”
We often feel the same ambivalence in the Right to Roam campaign. Trespass is useful as a media hook - it makes the simple acts of walking, watching, connecting, being, sound edgy and exciting - but it also places the emphasis on the alleged transgression of the wanderer, rather than the moral crime of the fence.
The ringleaders of Winter Hill received heavy fines (things got a bit spicy when Ainsworth’s gamekeeper threatened the crowd with a stick and was summarily dunked in the nearby stream) and the moor remained officially ‘closed’ for another century. But the memory of resistance has endured, with songs, poems and commemorative events marking the trespass over the years. These acts of ritual and memory are an essential part of keeping awareness of the fundamental illegitimacy of our exclusion from the land alive.
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act, passed in the year 2000, changed things for access to moorland like Winter Hill. But in other respects it’s striking how little has changed. Much of our upland is still owned by the same tiny minority of people, whose keepers regularly scorch the hills to encourage fresh heather shoots for their gamebirds; exposing and drying out the crucial, carbon rich peat beneath (for more on that: check out our own Guy Shrubsole’s latest book, published today!).
Beyond the uplands, much of the countryside still remains off limits. And where we have access, what we can do is still highly restricted. For many of us that means we’re unable to form deeper connections to the lands in which most of us actually live – or treated, at best, as transient, inconvenient guests.
But Britain is not a Victorian society any more. It’s time our relationship to land was governed in a fair, democratic fashion, not left to the arbitrary whims of those who happen to be lucky enough to own it. We’re thrilled to see West Bolton’s newest MP intends to honour the legacy of Winter Hill by pushing for access reform this parliament. And you can contact your own using our database and template email here – do let us know how they respond (you can get in touch by replying to this newsletter), as this is vital information for building a picture of our support in Westminster.
In the meantime, our own versions of Winter Hill continue – we’ll be in touch next week with more information about our response to the forthcoming Dartmoor supreme court case.
Until then, let us take succour from the words of one Allen Clarke, a Lancastrian writer who took part in the Winter Hill mass trespass, reflecting on what equitable access to the land can mean:
“Sit down here, on a summer’s day, on the green moorland under the blue sky, and though you own not a yard of land nor a stick of property, you are on a throne, and king of the world – a happier and far more innocent king than any ruler who ever held tinsel court and played havoc with the destiny of nations – you are monarch of all the magic of the moorlands, of healthy air for the lungs, of Nature’s pictures for the eye, of Nature’s music for the ear…”
Prize Draw
A massive thanks to all of you who contributed to our Prize Draw fundraiser. We raised over £12,000, with the proceeds going directly towards our campaigning efforts. Jess is busy with the random number generator drawing the winners now, and will be in touch with you soon. As usual, if you've got the cash to spare and would like to support the campaign on a long-term basis, do head over to our donate page. It makes a huge difference to our ability to do what we do.
Wild Service
We've hosted two great episodes of the Wild Service book club since the last newsletter, with writer Nicola Chester speaking about Community with the nature influencer Sophie Pavelle, and Harry Jenkinson discussing Kinship with the Kichwa artist and activist, Paccha Turner Chuji.
You can catch up with all our episodes on our YouTube channel here.
Thanks also to all who attended the first ever Wild Service workshop, which we organised in collaboration with fellow campaign organisations Lawyers for Nature, Wild Justice, Wild Card, Trash Free Trails, and River Action. It was a really powerful weekend, with some great knowledge being shared about how we can use access to drive ecological protection, all hosted at the farm of one of the campaign's very own Access Friendly Farmers.
Jon,
on behalf of the rest of the Right to Roam team”
To follow us on social media:
Twitter: @Right_2Roam
Instagram: right.2roam
Facebook: right2roam
YouTube: @righttoroam
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