[Stones] Longman of Wilmington Abuse

[Andy Norfolk]

At the risk of prolonging this "discussion" it seems to me that the 
objections, as explained on this list, to the stunt concerned are
1) someone might have made money out of it
2) it might suggest to visitors to ancient sites that they can damage 
them in the future.

If the first is really a problem no doubt we should all be campaigning 
for the abolition of EH - now come to think of it that might not be such 
a bad idea :) Then of course we could take on all land owners who dare 
charge to admission to places where there are ancient sites.

The second is a valid concern and is something I've campaigned about. 
However I have no doubt that most of Joe-public is sensible enough to 
spot a tv stunt when they see one and in any case if people walk over a 
site and then lie down on it they won't cause much of a problem.

Which still leaves me wondering why a very temporary non-damaging bit of 
land art could provoke such a hostile response. I've never watched 
Trinny and Susannah - are they really obnoxious? Is this a reaction to 
them as individuals rather than to what has actually occurred?

I also think its very easy to sign an on-line petition without much 
though and feel a sense of achievement at having made a difference.

I wonder how many people have tried phoning Sussex Archaeological 
Society to find out what's actually happened. I have done so. The 
following is a brief summary of what I have been told so far. Everything 
that happened on the site was under the direct supervision of the SAS 
site manager. No interference with the site occurred, no holes were dug, 
no pegs were put in, the ground surface was not disturbed. A relatively 
small number of women walked onto the site and lay down and then after a 
short time got up and walked off again. The site was inspected before 
and after this happened. No damage was seen.  The figure is on a very 
steep slope which puts most people off trying to walk on it. The site is 
grazed by sheep which have to be used to maintain the chalk downland. 
They have to be there and their hooves probably cause some damage.

Andy N




---
avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
Virus Database (VPS): 000754-4, 06/07/2007
Tested on: 12/07/2007 11:11:20
avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2007 ALWIL Software.
http://www.avast.com