Re: Climbing on Standing Stones | Forum

H

hedgedruid Jan 16, 2012 17:10:43

Replying to postman

postman wrote:

At the risk of sounding like a clueless bufoon, can I ask why exactly it is frouned upon to climb on stones, is it a respect thing, or are we seriously saying that a barely 11 stone bloke will break or wear down a several tonne capstone or standing stone, when I first saw a dolmen I couldnt help climbing on to it, I dont anymore, but not because i'm scared of knocking it off but just because ive been there done that.
Ive tried a bit restoration on an upland cairn and nearly crushed a finger in the process, are we presuming that there is an army of cairn abusers there single mindedly destroying them, in the time it takes to rearrange a cairn you could simply walk off the hill/mountain, I for one dont understand the process of cairn rearranging.

No its a respect thing . These are our sacred places - if you visit a church you wouldn't climb on the altar for a better view .

T

thesweetcheat Jan 16, 2012 18:47:28

Replying to postman

The cautionary tale for me would be Carwynnen Quoit, which fell down cos too many people climbed on it (I think).

To make a windshelter out of an upland cairns, you probably need a gang of strapping squaddies. It would take me a month to create a wind shelter out of one, by which time I would have died (of hypothermia, hunger, thirst or being carried off and eaten by an angry yeti).

O

ocifant Jan 16, 2012 19:42:53

Replying to postman

postman wrote:

At the risk of sounding like a clueless bufoon, can I ask why exactly it is frouned upon to climb on stones, is it a respect thing, or are we seriously saying that a barely 11 stone bloke will break or wear down a several tonne capstone or standing stone.

But it's not one 11 stone bloke, is it? Let's say the stones have been in situ for 3000 years, give or take. Let's imagine that someone clambers up, say, once a week on average. In the Victorian era whole parties used to clamber on the stones at once - see the old photos, so once a week is probably a fair average.

That's roughly 150000 'rubbings', plus the same amount of 11 stone+ stresses being placed on the stones and their contact points.

Not so minimal now?

T

The Eternal Feb 19, 2012 01:24:09

Replying to postman

postman wrote:

At the risk of sounding like a clueless bufoon, can I ask why exactly it is frowned upon to climb on stones, is it a respect thing, or are we seriously saying that a barely 11 stone bloke will break or wear down a several tonne capstone or standing stone, when I first saw a dolmen I couldnt help climbing on to it, I dont anymore, but not because i'm scared of knocking it off but just because ive been there done that.
Ive tried a bit of restoration on an upland cairn and nearly crushed a finger in the process, are we presuming that there is an army of cairn abusers there single mindedly destroying them, in the time it takes to rearrange a cairn you could simply walk off the hill/mountain, I for one dont understand the process of cairn rearranging.

Climbing on rocks by many people results in the rock becoming polished. I know from first hand experience as someone who has climbed in the Lakes. The popular rock climbs become polished, which shows as discolouration on the foot and hand holds. Also, with more fragile rock, and where it has cracks, there is a possibility of rock breaking off.

As for cairns, they don't become shelters overnight. Someone my rearrange a few rocks to provide a brief, scant bit of shelter whilst they put something warmer on. This is then seen by the next person, who adds to the wall structure, and so on, until a considerable shelter results over time. Luckily, these are built out of scattered rocks lying nearby, but, where there is an ancient cairn in an exposed position there will be an inevitable shelter excavated. There is no way someone who has no archaeological interest would know it was an ancient cairn.

Cheers,
TE.