GLASS in the news

They certainly do, think of the ground pressure of 2 tonnes of horse on those hard, comparativly,little hooves. Not to mention the exhaust... Oh dear, a townie rambler walking in the countryside getting their boots muddy and covered in shit. Sorry, get a life.

Well on the tracks and roads around here that is certainly true. Almost all the "off road" traffic is tractors or 4x4 but the purpose of farming. Doesn't stop people complaining about getting muddy cars in the winter though, some even winged about the salt! At this altitude once it gets into winter proper the gritters are going round two or three times a day...

So I wonder whatever became of the research demonstrating that 2 walkers in hiking boots cause more surface impact damage, puddling and as a consequence, greater erosion of soft terrain...

Buried deep in the depths of DEFRA Towers no doubt. Now why would they do that?

Indeed, some of them seem to want the countryside to be one big footpath, smooth and unbroken. I went down a RUPP recently that was blocked at the start by a car belonging to a nearby resident, I asked who's car it was. The woman said that she didn't like 4x4s going down there because they've caused ruts at the end. I lived near that lane and it was never used by 4x4s due to fallen trees on the first section that had been there a long time (cleared by me). When you get to the middle you have massive ruts coming out of a field, travelling along the lane for a while, then veering off into another field while the lane carries on completely rut-free. Just how unobservant can people possibly be?

I'm not keen on salt myself but there seems to be little alternative short of requiring people to fit studded tyres which aren't practical here as they need to be removed when the ice goes away. We don't get enough of it for long enough to justify that. Trying to educate people to drive carefully on icy roads won't work either being as we can't even educate people to respect each other's point of view.

Hey that's people for you ;-)

Most damage is actually done by walkers - not on an individual basis but because large numbers of them insist on walking in the same place. If you don't believe me just go to any of our famous beauty spots and you'll find it has been necessary to tarmac or otherwise hard surface the paths due to the erosion cause by walkers.

So another question for the Yorks NP - What was the expenditure in the last financial year (or last 5 years if you wish) for repairs or reconstruction work on paths or tracks a) used solely by walkers b) used by recreational 4x4 vehicles or motor cycles? What are the corresponding budgets for 2005-2006? (OK so that's 2 questions)

A 2 ton horse? Whilst horses do chew the ground up, a 2 ton one would be twice the size of the very biggest Shire! Nearer 0.5 tons for an "average" large riding horse.

No buried - see Kinder Scout!

Richard

On or around Thu, 19 May 2005 11:00:08 +0000 (UTC), beamendsltd enlightened us thusly:

mind, the ground pressure thing still applies.

try walking on soft ground in tracks made by a 3-ton farm tractor. Your boots leave imprints...

Not sure that really tells you anything (if you're trying to imply that it demonstrates that a person exerts more ground pressure than the tractor -- which is almost certainly true), as the ground will always spring back a little after it's been moshed by any vehicle. The real test would be who sinks the furthest on similar virgin ground.

Interesting statistic; ground pressure of a human foot: between

BTW where do you get a 3-tonne tractor these day, I thought they were all 6-tonne behemoths! Even the JCB Fasttrac is 7 tonnes. 7 tonnes of tractor on super-aggressive tyres tootling along green lanes a few times a day, but it's 4x4 users who get the blame...

Maybe we should all fit tracks like the challenger!

that'll upset a few folks on the school-run heheheh

Regards. Mark.

It's also about the impact pressure - a heel of a walking boot, sharp wedge type thing, hitting soft ground is the focus for the overall weight of the walker - with all the pressure focussed into the one, small point.

The foot then rolls, causing an impression, before the toe pushes off, again with the full force and weight of the body concentrated into an even smaller point of pressure.

Oh - you can't apply *logic* to a situation like this - it needs to be nothing like visceral reaction otherwise the entire cause is lost don't you know?

I mean - it's obvious that a 2 tonne land rover will do more damage to the land than a 15 stone walker - has to be - bigger thing. And it puts out more carbon dioxide. And it's nasty. And messy. And doesn't wear a bobble hat.

I wonder how much CO2 2 tonnes of ramblers put out - more than a 2 tonne landie?

I've got a sudden urge to find the agency who did the disco dancing Citroen advert and get them to do something similar with a 110 except having it morph into something with big boots, a backpack, walking stick and a bobble hat before marching off over the moors.

P.

Depends on what wood you use for the kindling..

Don't forget that it needs an ample supply of old maps, tissues, sweet wrappers and transparent resealable sandwich bags to drop in order to find its way home again.

Certainly considerable more BS!