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Letter: Preserve our tranquil places
10:56am Wednesday 14th May 2008
I was a candidate at the recent local elections and campaigned vigorously against wind farms. I would crave your indulgence in continuing the debate.
This week the nation was advised that we have now surpassed Holland as the most densely populated country in Europe. Because of the complete incompetence of the present government over the past ten years, immigration is completely out of control and, by the year 2050, the population of the UK is estimated at 70 million.
Gordon Brown has announced he is looking for a further three million homes to be built by the year 2020. When you take into effect the extra roads, schools, hospitals and all the other essentials of a civilised society, our nation is going to become a very busy, overcrowded island.
This makes it ever more important that we preserve and upgrade our unspoiled and tranquil places, where millions of people can recharge their batteries as a way of coping with the stresses of everyday life.
It means that we have to be especially careful where we locate power stations. By positioning essential new nuclear power plants on existing sites, we will keep landscape damage to a minimum but, of greater importance to Cumbria, is the positioning of wind farms.
These inefficient power plants (because that is what they are) have the potential to blight the very thing we most treasure - our magnificent scenery. This is our legacy to future generations and we all have a duty to ensure it is passed on unblemished.
I do not support the construction of the Armistead wind farm at Old Hutton and would need much persuasion to believe that these structures have a place in South Lakeland.
Mel MackieHigh Casterton
Your sayYourCumbria
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Prehistoric walk
The interesting brochure you can obtain from the car park at Foulshaw Moss says that more than several thousand years ago the Witherslack Mosses were part of an extensive wetland in what is now the Lyth Valley and on the flat ground west of the Kent Estuary. The Mosses - Meathop, Foulshaw and Nicols - are raised peat bogs brought about by sphagnum moss that draws up, acidifies, and holds water like a giant sponge, creating waterlogged conditions as it grows. Sphagnum grows from the tip, leaving the lower part to die. Waterlogging halts decay of these dead bits that build up and up over thousands of years, to form deep domed mounds of peat that are raised many feet above the surrounding ground. The Witherslack Mosses have dried out partly as a result of forestry and the invasion of scrub. Over time, drainage and peat cutting led to the loss of more wetland and now only significant fragments remain. Specialised peatbog flora and fauna have been unable to thrive because of the area being too shaded and too dry. Recently conifers have been removed and also masses of rhododendrons have been cleared. Hundreds of peat and plastic dams have been installed to bring about the ‘sponge’ effect of the peat. At Foulshaw, the remains of a 15ft to 16ft wide prehistoric trackway has been uncovered. This is believed to have been constructed in the mid-Bronze Age to allow people to cross the once huge wetland. Trunks of ash and birch were laid side by side and supported on logs. Foulshaw Moss is open to the public. Nichols Moss, a really squelchy one, is only suitable for a hundred yards or so before you encounter pathless very wet moss. It is a delight to stand and look ahead but as there is no walkway do not continue. Pause just on its edge from where you might spot red deer. Meathop is a lovely walk but only for those with a permit from Cumbria Wildlife Trust or if you are a member. The parking is difficult. After the first short grassy track, follow a wider track, left, that winds round right by a pasture and into fine conifer woodland. Beyond this a wide walkway takes you out some distance into the moss, from where you will spot all sorts of interesting lowly plants. To visit Foulshaw Moss, on the A590, it is best to approach the entrance from the direction of Kendal. If coming from the opposite direction continue on past the entrance and make use of the Levens underpass to make a U-turn and approach from the north. This avoids trying to make a right turn across a narrow section of the busy A-road. The entrance is not signposted until you have turned off the road. The entrance turn, a cart track, lies just before a large layby on a narrow section of the A-road. Just beyond the turn, stands a huge sign saying ‘Dual carriageway a mile ahead’. To approach the entrance, drive the dual carriageway at Levens until it ends. Continue a short distance along the two-way road and begin to signal your left turn. Watch out for the large sign ahead. If you reach the layby you have gone too far.
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