I’ve followed this thread with great interest as I live and work as a photographic artist in the area. Yes it is of concern that old monuments and such like run the risk of destruction, but this has always been the case. Let’s take the example of Malo Cross. Named after the de Mauley family who lived at Mulgrave Castle nr Sandsend. This cross stands at the base of a steep escarpment known as Whinney Nad around a mile or so east from Saltergate, the Whitby to Pickering Road and the Hole of Horcum. Originally build as some sort of boundary stone in the 12th century, the original was “lost” or more likely destroyed, in the 16th cent by the new lord whose initials K with R E below it represent Sir Richard Egerton (Knight). This landowner was evidently famous for replacing old boundary markers with new ones, some distance form their originals to gain more land
"In 1619 records of the Duchy of Lancaster details of a cross erected near Whinny Nab in the Tabular Hills are mentioned in connection with an alleged violation of The Laws governing the royal deer forest of Pickering, which states 'In the years 1619 and 1621 various matters including charge of trespass and encroachment were submitted for the consideration of the jury, who found '. . . that Sir Richard Egerton Kt hath made divers enclosures, about Blackhowe being in the heart of the Forest, and hath set or caused to be set up on Whynny Nebnew bounderstone with a cross' . . ."
(From 'An Illustrated Guide to the Crosses on the North Yorkshire Moors' by Elizabeth Ogilvie & Audrey Sleightholme)
The cross then disappeared sometime towards the end of the 19th century only to reappear in 1924 when it was found in a garden in nearby Pickering and returned to its original position.
Now I’ve used the Malo Cross illustration to make the point that many of our ancient monuments and landscapes have been altered over the years, and very little of what we assume is original actually is as it seems.
Personally I find it interesting that people fight to preserve the beauty, peace and tranquility of the North Yorkshire Moors and forget that within this landscape there are villages and hamlets inhabited by people who scrape a living out of that landscape. We who live here are not extras in some English Heritage/Disney type theme park.
Recently I overheard someone at Rosedale remarking how wonderful and picturesque the place was, which it is. However if they had visited the area back in the 19th century they wouldn’t have found a rural idyll, they would have found themselves in the middle of a huge iron ore industrial complex. This iron mining and railway community in Rosedale came into being in the 1850s and flourished for two or three generations, but by 1929 it came to an end and most of the thousand or so workforce moved on in search of a livelihood elsewhere. This must have heralded financial disaster for local businesses, just like the demise of iron & steel and mining industry devastated villages and towns in South Yorkshire in the 1980’s.
Mine buildings, engine sheds, and other industrial remnants were demolished or fell into ruin. In several places cottages for mining and railway workers and the larger houses of managerial staff were abandoned. The railway line was taken up, and today its track now provides a splendid walk of about nine miles around the upper level of the dale whilst the land itself has returned to the moor and sheep and the village makes money out of tourism. Again, the point I’m making is what we see today isn’t necessarily what was there originally – what we are seeing is the result of mans intervention. Someday very, very soon a huge argument will break out when various companies, with no doubt, local and national governmental backing, will build a new potash mine on the North Yorkshire Moors somewhere between Whitby and Scarborough. The downside is that they will ruin the landscape, block the roads and cause major upheaval and general brouhaha. The up side is that they will bring 3-4000 new jobs and prosperity into an area that is desperate for new cash and that, like the iron mines of Rosedale, they will eventually go away – not in our lifetimes but there again, lets not be short sighted about this.
It’s also the same with the Forestry Commission. I too feel that what they are dong in Dalby Forest is wrong – I’ve been walking those paths since the 70’s and over the intervening years had staged plays and taught art classes there. However today the Forestry Commission seem hell bent on making it a giant adventure playground for cyclists and people who wish to use zip wires to descend from the tree tops. Last weekend in the visitor center I noticed plans to build a giant dry-stone wall maze. Immediately kicking into the grumpy old man mode I began to bemoan the destruction of the forest – then I was put right by a very patient forest ranger. He pointed out that due to the Tory cuts and a certain pressure for them to be sold off to private companies & vested interests, (remember Caroline Spelman, well those ideas haven’t gone away), the Forestry Commission had to make money to survive and the money needed was a damn sight more than their income from sales of timber. Therefore they had to diversify. Before I could make the obvious comment he went on to add that the money generated went to conservation, research, preservation and many other good causes – but he also made the more important point that by making Dalby into “adventure playground” or “forest experience”, it took the pressure off other North Yorkshire Forests like nearby Langdale and Cropton. That by concentrating money generating ventures in Dalby the other forest were being left alone for (the minority) of people who enjoyed walking in a forest without cyclists and coffee shops. It also encouraged BMX riders to use the forest and not the moors or farmland.
When I calmed down and thought about it, it made sense. They pander to the needs of the general public, generate cash out of them, preserve what they can and one day (probably not in my lifetime) when zip wires and BMX biking has fallen out of fashion, the forest will once again evolve to meet the needs of the 21st century family with cash in their pockets. It’s a trade off that I’m willing to go along with – much better that allowing Spelman to sell them off to private ownership who don’t give two hoots for conservation, preservation ad public access.
