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stone stacking on beaches, bad or ok?

Re: stone stacking on beaches, bad or ok?

Postby raykilhams » Sat Aug 18, 2018 9:23 am

I do apologize if I've upset anyone with my comments. But surely it's all a matter of perspective. I am certainly not encouraging any and all to go out and build little piles of stones ( never done it myself don't see the point). But are you really staining the landscape by picking up a few natural, localised stones and putting one on top of another in piles that can easily be knocked over and dispersed. I have just walked across 270km of highlands and not once did I see a single small pile of manmade stones, but I did see, even in some of our remotes areas, sweet wrappers and on at least two occasions dumped plastic bags with rubbish spewing out of them. How on earth they got there I don't know . Now to me that is the real staining of our countryside, the real inconsideration of people, the real bugbear of anyone who loves the country. not a few piles of natural stones, ( some even formed by nature which at times appear manmade).

But I do recognise that is does bug some people and maybe quite rightly.
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Re: stone stacking on beaches, bad or ok?

Postby Sunset tripper » Sat Aug 18, 2018 1:50 pm

rabthecairnterrier wrote:I second skylines comment above - in full.

I guess the comments are legally correct but it sounds like lawyer speak to me. Most of these stone stacks and certainly the ones that are extensive are at the roadside. I would imagine that the kids (or adults) building them know little and probably care less about the access laws the same as folk building sandcastles at the beach, in fact it is probably similar in many cases. With the stones easily deconstructed or deconstructing themselves.
Scotland has far better access laws than the rest of Britain and Ireland and is probably considered a world leader when it comes to access for the people.
It's worth remembering that and also asking the question why the rest of the UK and Ireland is so far behind. :wink:
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Re: stone stacking on beaches, bad or ok?

Postby Caberfeidh » Sun Aug 19, 2018 5:38 pm

How about skulls? If we piled skulls it might send a very different message, and thus scare off the types who feel the need to impose their own mark on the landscape. Skulls. Not just for decorating your castle walls with.

Hector's Skullery.jpg
Skull heaps. Pile some sense into 'em, that's what I say. Skull~Piling, a fun day out for all the family!
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Re: stone stacking on beaches, bad or ok?

Postby The_Real_SF » Mon Aug 20, 2018 2:54 pm

al78 wrote:
raykilhams wrote:This is a strange one as it seems to arouse some quite strong feelings. But people have been piling stones on top of each other for thousands of years all over our land. They are referred to in a number of terms such as walls, dykes, enclosures, cottages and even castles.
For those who feel that people should not pile stones then maybe they should start a campaign to rid the landscape of many of these artificial manmade structures. Hadrians Wall for starters.....oh those Romans certainly left many a pile of stones , walls, forts viaducts and bridges . Let's tear the lot down so we can go back to a more natural environment. Hang on though most of our landscape has been shaped by the hand of man . The forests that covered Britain two thousand years ago have almost disappeared, the flora and fauna have changed dramatically. Why, because of mans desire to build piles of stones or fences and tame the land. What we see today, except in a few remote areas is an artificial manmade landscape, home now to many introduced non native species, not some imagined pristine land, but one shaped by my and your ancestors.

So let's not get too upset about a few piles that are here today and gone tomorrow. Mine you my pet hate is painted trees and ugly sculptures in the middle of nowhere, but as they say …..they too will pass.


Here we go again with the strawman arguments.

The argument is not about every single possible alteration of the landscape by mankind over history, it is about unnecessary localised alteration of the landscape to the point where it detrimentally affects the beauty of the landscape for visitors. Just because mankind has trashed the original landscape over thousands of years, doesn't justify staining it now.


If this is a strawman argument then complaining about stacked stones in a landscape is an absolutely hysterical thing to be upset about. You are literally saying a temporary pile of stones stacked by a child is offending me...

SMH.
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Re: stone stacking on beaches, bad or ok?

Postby rabthecairnterrier » Mon Aug 20, 2018 10:43 pm

The_Real_SF wrote:
al78 wrote:
raykilhams wrote:This is a strange one as it seems to arouse some quite strong feelings. But people have been piling stones on top of each other for thousands of years all over our land. They are referred to in a number of terms such as walls, dykes, enclosures, cottages and even castles.
For those who feel that people should not pile stones then maybe they should start a campaign to rid the landscape of many of these artificial manmade structures. Hadrians Wall for starters.....oh those Romans certainly left many a pile of stones , walls, forts viaducts and bridges . Let's tear the lot down so we can go back to a more natural environment. Hang on though most of our landscape has been shaped by the hand of man . The forests that covered Britain two thousand years ago have almost disappeared, the flora and fauna have changed dramatically. Why, because of mans desire to build piles of stones or fences and tame the land. What we see today, except in a few remote areas is an artificial manmade landscape, home now to many introduced non native species, not some imagined pristine land, but one shaped by my and your ancestors.

So let's not get too upset about a few piles that are here today and gone tomorrow. Mine you my pet hate is painted trees and ugly sculptures in the middle of nowhere, but as they say …..they too will pass.


Here we go again with the strawman arguments.

The argument is not about every single possible alteration of the landscape by mankind over history, it is about unnecessary localised alteration of the landscape to the point where it detrimentally affects the beauty of the landscape for visitors. Just because mankind has trashed the original landscape over thousands of years, doesn't justify staining it now.


If this is a strawman argument then complaining about stacked stones in a landscape is an absolutely hysterical thing to be upset about. You are literally saying a temporary pile of stones stacked by a child is offending me...

SMH.


Depending on location (beaches below tideline are possibly unobjectionable) how temporary is temporary? In terms of geological timescales everything is temporary; in terms of human timescales, it's a bit different. al78 in perfectly correct. If anyone feels compelled to impose their ego on landscape, let them do it in their own gardens, not out on the hills where it compromises others enjoyment.
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Re: stone stacking on beaches, bad or ok?

Postby Sunset tripper » Fri Aug 24, 2018 4:09 pm

Linda Cracknells article which tells of the painted stones left on Ullapool hill shows that it is maybe not a mainstream view that this sort of thing is the same as littering or graffiti, even from folk from the great outdoors community, or is painting little stones and scattering them around the hillside totally different? :?
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/news/ullapool-hill-and-far-beyond/0018524/
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Re: stone stacking on beaches, bad or ok?

Postby Skyelines » Fri Aug 24, 2018 7:11 pm

Sunset tripper wrote:Linda Cracknells article which tells of the painted stones left on Ullapool hill shows that it is maybe not a mainstream view that this sort of thing is the same as littering or graffiti, even from folk from the great outdoors community, or is painting little stones and scattering them around the hillside totally different? :?
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/news/ullapool-hill-and-far-beyond/0018524/


Calling ones litter art does not make it any less litter.
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Re: stone stacking on beaches, bad or ok?

Postby Wok de dog » Fri Aug 31, 2018 6:27 am

Sometimes in forums you find the people that you actually go up the hills to avoid.
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Re: stone stacking on beaches, bad or ok?

Postby jupe1407 » Tue Sep 04, 2018 12:32 pm

Multitudes of stone stacks, especially in the NW highlands at various hotspots are pretty unsightly.

Humans seem to have become totally self(ie)-obsessed narcissists with a desperate need to "make our mark" on the places we've visited.

Why the hell can't folk simply visit somewhere, take a few photos and enjoy it for what it is, without the need to alter it's appearance?
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Re: stone stacking on beaches, bad or ok?

Postby Caberfeidh » Tue Sep 04, 2018 12:45 pm

Indeed, it is getting to the stage that if you stand still for too long, some git will start making little piles of stones on your head...
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Re: stone stacking on beaches, bad or ok?

Postby Jobax » Tue Sep 04, 2018 1:06 pm

Wok de dog wrote:Sometimes in forums you find the people that you actually go up the hills to avoid.

:clap:
some right wet blankets in here imo.
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Re: stone stacking on beaches, bad or ok?

Postby raykilhams » Tue Sep 04, 2018 1:34 pm

Is this, (taken while walking coast to coast across Scotland, 2015)
DSCF6334.JPG
really as bad
P1030434.JPG
as this, taken while walking the length of Scotland, 2018)

Spot the stacked stones, or according to some the litter. I'll leave you to make your own mind up.
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Re: stone stacking on beaches, bad or ok?

Postby rgallie » Tue Sep 04, 2018 2:34 pm

raykilhams wrote:Is this, (taken while walking coast to coast across Scotland, 2015)
DSCF6334.JPG
really as bad
P1030434.JPG
as this, taken while walking the length of Scotland, 2018)

Spot the stacked stones, or according to some the litter. I'll leave you to make your own mind up.



Not a fair comparison, the top photo is much closer, given the example used in the second photo the same rubbish could just as easily be hidden behind the branches.

My personal opinion is they are unsightly but I wont get myself heated up over it. I wouldn't do it myself and I'd quite happily kick a few down, but I wouldn't get mad if I where to witness someone building them.
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Re: stone stacking on beaches, bad or ok?

Postby CharlesT » Tue Sep 04, 2018 4:50 pm

Caberfeidh wrote:Indeed, it is getting to the stage that if you stand still for too long, some git will start making little piles of stones on your head...


Which, of course, would be a monumental mistake.
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Re: stone stacking on beaches, bad or ok?

Postby Mojocat » Tue Sep 04, 2018 10:38 pm

I really can't see that this is worth getting worked up about, like almost everything these days it's just a social media/internet led fad that will disappear as quickly as it began. Personally I find it more worrying that it seems to have kickstarted a debate about the 'right' people and the 'wrong' people visiting the countryside. Never a good road to travel down.
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