Let's Buy Silbury!

Silbury Hill 180

Image by Spiddly

nigelswift Sep 24, 2003 08:33:45

So we form ourselves into the Silbury Leaseholders Association, get ourselves a legal identity (very cheap) and write to Lord Avebury asking him to sublet it to us for 10 years at a pound a year, on a lease that conferred zero rights to us.
It's worth a try. It's worth nothing to him because he can never use it to generate an income. All he gets is hassle from EH, and he's virtually said so. If we were leaseholders they'd be legally obliged to talk to us about stuff, just as much as to him. And we could say things to them that he clearly would like to say himself.
(Also, although we'd have given ourselves no rights of access to the Hill, we'd be perfectly entitled to electrify our fence....)

Wotan Sep 24, 2003 09:06:22

Replying to nigelswift

Makes sense to me - how many TMA members are there ?

Kammer Sep 24, 2003 09:34:55

Replying to nigelswift

Can I owe you? I'm a bit skint.

:-)#

K x

elderford Sep 24, 2003 10:26:31

Replying to nigelswift

what are we gonna do with it nigel?

i'll give you a tenner for a year's lease of it, but i feel that we need to appraoch lord avebury with some sort of grown up master plan rather than a loose collective of people who want to put a stick in the spokes in the front wheel of English Heritage's bicycle.

Pete G Sep 24, 2003 13:14:58

Replying to nigelswift

Sorry but you'll never buy Silbury as Lord A has given it over to EH forever.
Marden Mill is up for sale tho!
42 acres of the larget henge in the world.
The stones are waiting in the river bed to be re erected and there is a Pub inside of it just as at Avebury.
£1,100,000.
PeteG

third degree Sep 24, 2003 20:48:36

Replying to nigelswift

im up for it....£20..........well worthy cause

pure joy Sep 24, 2003 23:09:19

Replying to nigelswift

The principle is great.

You know, I'm really getting a feeling that various discussions / topics over the last 6 months or so (Churn Knob, history for sale, EH, Big Brother, Thornborough etc) show that we need some sort of revolutionary wing of the TMA (without the TMA name of course - copyright etc). People who want to do things; even sometimes little things like writing lettters; up to bigger things like protests, interesting legal entities (like the Silbury Leaseholders idea), and trying to actually get some stuff done.

I am very much into radical thought, campaigns, and non-violent direct action but have grown old (33!) and less active. I hope to be able to announce a tiny step in November.

nigelswift Sep 25, 2003 20:42:23

Replying to nigelswift

We could take our first step towards archaeo-terrorism, in a Guardian-reader sort of way, by fixing our own warning notices to Silbury's fence, to replace the ineffectual EH ones. It might reduce the numbers of trespassers a bit, which would at least be something concrete rather than spending all our time in talking mode.
Perhaps we should make it a point of honour for TMAers to take a notice with them when visiting there and to post a picture of it here.
It's a nice legal point as to whether we'd be doing anything wrong.
I like dual use efforts, so I reckon the wording ought to be always the same, something like "Danger - Keep Out - this hill has had no maintenance for 3.5 years".
I wonder what they'd do? Is it in the public interest to pull down warning notices?