Silbury Hill 180
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Silbury Hill

Trespass on SSSI sites

Rhiannon R
Rhiannon Sep 4, 2012 09:46:52
Replying to Evergreen Dazed

I'm not sure my own particular behaviour is central, that isn't really what I was getting at although I used myself as an example about Silbury.

I think the underlying issue's the same though. If people sit down and discuss the issues, and decide in a logical way that there's a risk that a precious site will be damaged because of the footfall of lots of people, then you have to stop large numbers of people stepping on the site.

If that means the general public can't wander around Skara Brae, Stonehenge, Silbury, then that's how it is.

And we are the general public. Even though some of us might like to think we're extra special and the rules don't apply to us.

OF COURSE I'd like to sit in Skara Brae, put my cup of tea on the sideboard, snuggle down in one of the beds, imagine myself back in the stone age and listen to the wind howling outside Etc- who bloody wouldn't, especially weird people that have a particular obsession with all things prehistoric?

But it's irrelevant, because the rule is no one is allowed to do that. It's not quite the same thing as sneaking into the ruined abbey at Canterbury after hours (as I did many years ago) because that's somewhere that everyone is allowed to trudge round during the day.

The question is, am I more special than everyone else, do I have some special right to bend the rules that apply to everyone else for the good of the site? What's more important in the long run, the welfare of the site or me satisfying my impulse?

(It sounds like I like rules, I don't particularly, but I think we're talking about rules as in societal consensus. The people looking after Silbury, Skara Brae, Stonehenge, you'd like to think they are people who have the sites' protection at heart, and they're experienced / educated people who have been hired for their expertise. So if they decide we shouldn't trample all over Silbury etc, in this case I'm willing to believe that it's quite a good decision)

R Rhiannon
Rhiannon Sep 4, 2012 09:50:52
Replying to Rhiannon

oh I missed out that you said "Merely setting foot on Silbury damages it in a way that setting foot inside a house at Skara Brae wouldn't damage that structure"

I'm not sure there's any difference, you can say that one person climbing silbury - I climbing silbury - does not leave any noticeable damage at all. Likewise at Skara Brae. But the important thing is the cumulative damage to our irreplaceable prehistoric structures.

That's why people aren't allowed to wander through Skara Brae, right? What other reason would there be? It got nearly 70 thousand tourists this year!

T tjj
tjj Sep 4, 2012 10:06:18
Replying to Rhiannon

Rhiannon wrote:
I'm not sure my own particular behaviour is central, that isn't really what I was getting at although I used myself as an example about Silbury.

I think the underlying issue's the same though. If people sit down and discuss the issues, and decide in a logical way that there's a risk that a precious site will be damaged because of the footfall of lots of people, then you have to stop large numbers of people stepping on the site.

If that means the general public can't wander around Skara Brae, Stonehenge, Silbury, then that's how it is.

And we are the general public. Even though some of us might like to think we're extra special and the rules don't apply to us.

OF COURSE I'd like to sit in Skara Brae, put my cup of tea on the sideboard, snuggle down in one of the beds, imagine myself back in the stone age and listen to the wind howling outside Etc- who bloody wouldn't, especially weird people that have a particular obsession with all things prehistoric?

But it's irrelevant, because the rule is no one is allowed to do that. It's not quite the same thing as sneaking into the ruined abbey at Canterbury after hours (as I did many years ago) because that's somewhere that everyone is allowed to trudge round during the day.

The question is, am I more special than everyone else, do I have some special right to bend the rules that apply to everyone else for the good of the site? What's more important in the long run, the welfare of the site or me satisfying my impulse?

(It sounds like I like rules, I don't particularly, but I think we're talking about rules as in societal consensus. The people looking after Silbury, Skara Brae, Stonehenge, you'd like to think they are people who have the sites' protection at heart, and they're experienced / educated people who have been hired for their expertise. So if they decide we shouldn't trample all over Silbury etc, in this case I'm willing to believe that it's quite a good decision)

Thanks for your posts Rhiannon, as ever you've pulled everything together in a down to earth way that we can all relate to.
One of Skara Brae's biggest threats is from the elements and natural erosion - this might not apply to Silbury but all of us here watched with bated breath back in 2007 when Silbury was so very fragile and it wouldn't stop raining. The work, albeit left too long, to strengthen and 'rebuild' Silbury from the inside out was an engineering wonder ... I for one won't forget how tenuous it all seemed for a while.

E Evergreen Dazed
Evergreen Dazed Sep 4, 2012 11:11:13
Replying to Rhiannon

Rhiannon wrote:
I'm not sure my own particular behaviour is central, that isn't really what I was getting at although I used myself as an example about Silbury.

I think the underlying issue's the same though. If people sit down and discuss the issues, and decide in a logical way that there's a risk that a precious site will be damaged because of the footfall of lots of people, then you have to stop large numbers of people stepping on the site.

If that means the general public can't wander around Skara Brae, Stonehenge, Silbury, then that's how it is.

And we are the general public. Even though some of us might like to think we're extra special and the rules don't apply to us.

OF COURSE I'd like to sit in Skara Brae, put my cup of tea on the sideboard, snuggle down in one of the beds, imagine myself back in the stone age and listen to the wind howling outside Etc- who bloody wouldn't, especially weird people that have a particular obsession with all things prehistoric?

But it's irrelevant, because the rule is no one is allowed to do that. It's not quite the same thing as sneaking into the ruined abbey at Canterbury after hours (as I did many years ago) because that's somewhere that everyone is allowed to trudge round during the day.

The question is, am I more special than everyone else, do I have some special right to bend the rules that apply to everyone else for the good of the site? What's more important in the long run, the welfare of the site or me satisfying my impulse?

(It sounds like I like rules, I don't particularly, but I think we're talking about rules as in societal consensus. The people looking after Silbury, Skara Brae, Stonehenge, you'd like to think they are people who have the sites' protection at heart, and they're experienced / educated people who have been hired for their expertise. So if they decide we shouldn't trample all over Silbury etc, in this case I'm willing to believe that it's quite a good decision)

Absolutely agreed.

Regarding my direct question, you don't have to answer it, of course, but i'm keen to hear the honest answer.

I'm not trying to catch anybody out here, and for me, at least, the question wasn't "Am I more special than everybody else" (although I can see how it might have been interpreted in that way).

My direct question was coming more from a philosophical attitude, perhaps trying to form ideas of how human beings interact with places they feel attached or drawn to. The 'law' and the idea of site preservation just make this more intruiging.

M Moth
Moth Sep 6, 2012 19:11:12
Replying to Rhiannon

Yes!! I'm sure this post'll be missed suddenly appearing in the middle, but we did indeed enter Skara Brae after 'closing time' (me, Jane, Hob & Mrs Hob) but we kept to the paths & wouldn't've dreamt of entering the houses, tempting as it was!!!!

love

Moth

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