I read the letter about access to the woodlands around Beetham (Letters, April 12, 'Woods access questioned').

As a born and bred local I am glad to see Dallam Estate fence the woodland to stop people roaming wherever they wish.

My reason is this. Growing up in the 1960s I remember the paths through the woods were only a cart track wide and were covered in a short, lush grass. The woods were popular with walkers back then too, but people didn’t come in the hordes as they do now and they would only come when the weather was good.

The damage started when the Limestone Link walk opened. Large groups come in all weathers in big clumping walking boots, which have turned the paths into vast mud baths.

My grandmother grew up on The Hill at Slackhead. Her father was the village joiner, wheelwright and coffin maker. Her mother was the local midwife and herbalist - people used to go to her when they couldn’t afford to go to the doctor. As such Nana had a good knowledge of local flora and fauna passed down to her.

When I was a child Nana would talk to me about the flowers and plants she remembered in the woods. These were plants that had been there all her life and probably for generations before her too. But most are gone now due to people trampling everywhere.

In my lifetime, in Beetham woods I have seen Green Hellebore, Common Twayblade, Birds Nest Orchid, Bee Orchid, Dark Red Helleborine, Morels, Pantherinas and Fly Agarics (to name but a few) - all wiped out of existence.

The Snowdrops and Daffodils that grow near Fiery House are greatly reduced too, and the Bluebells and Wood Anemones are almost gone.

With footpaths through the woods being promoted more and more, I am glad Dallam has fenced in some areas, and so what about “the people’s right to roam”? There has to be some common sense to protect what we have got left.

Cheryl Greenwood

Beetham