In reply to belperpete:
> (In reply to Gordon Stainforth) Gordon, you're right, cutting down that tree was a disgrace - what for???. Have you walked along the bottom path recently - plenty more trees cut and rotting by the path - English Heritage remit or what? Why do you think the crag should be SSSI designated? It's a special place, no doubt but if you check out the parameters I don't know of any reason (other than fondness for the place) why it should be.
Probably because I'm an aging fart! Seriously, though, I feel very strongly that somewhere as special as High Tor should be treated like gold dust/ Stonehenge/ the Parthenon. As climbers, our goal should be to do just that and to aim, as far as is humanly possible, to leave no permanent marks on it whatever.
The whole question of the felling of trees should be looked into. It may be part of a very well thought out gardening plan, but I suspect it's the exact opposite.
>Remember the main thrust of supposed complaint from DDDC "This involved removing some hawthorn at the top of the crag, deliberately placed to discourage abseiling.". Hawthorn is not a protected species! So what are the issues here? BMC maybe haven't got it quite right yet??
This whole hawthorn thing sounds so far-fetched that I hope it's just a case of very garbled reporting.