Dave and I enjoyed a wonderful summer-like day climbing on Raven Crag East in Langdale today. Despite the trees still having no leaves and the bracken not having even broken ground it was hotter on the sunny rock than it often is in July. Wonderful. In weather like this the Lakes has to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
Although on the approach one of the miserable local farmers did his best to ruin our day…
Despite the whole area around the various Raven Crags being open access land owned by the National Trust, and therefore subject to CRoW, Dave and I were shouted at by a local farmer on the approach. We were “told” to keep to the path and get off the grass! I was called a “bastard” and a “fucking wanker”. Nice. Now I do understand why farmers are such angry people; they depend on the land to make their living, and a few uneducated users of the countryside may be disrespectful of the landscape. However, looking at how they often treat the land themselves I’m convinced that in general hillwalkers and climbers care more about the great outdoors. None of us have any more claim to this natural beauty than any other. Having to earn a living from the land for however many years doesn’t give farmers any special rights. And most certainly doesn’t allow them to use this kind of language. To top it all, when I asked for his name – which he refused to give so I took a photo instead – he decided to leave quickly on his quad-bike. In doing so he tried to run me out of the way by driving directly at me. When I clearly wasn’t going to move he swerved but still ran over my foot with his vehicle’s rear wheel.
Why are so many farmers such miserable, disagreeable, and angry people? :angry:
Oh well, despite this interlude in the beautiful Lakeland day Dave and I had a brilliant day climbing! 😀
Perhaps he got turned down by his favourite sheep…
After some thought I have realised that the language used by this farmer, and having had my foot run over (assault?), is totally unacceptable. So I have written to the Lake District National Park authority, the National Trust, and the Police about this incident. I wonder what will happen next… :zip:
Glad you had a fun day on Raven Crag East, looks like Spring has finally arrived! Sorry to hear about your run in with the local Farmer, it’s unacceptable for someone to behave like that towards you, so I hope your letters get some redress, as I would hate to see that happen to someone else. But you know not all farmers don’t care about the land, or want to get on with other land users. (My dad’s a farmer, so I have insider insight!) But people that do behave like this, get everyone a bad name.