Help save Loxley & Wadsley Common

[ellesmere200]

Does anyone know who keeps defacing the notices with juvenile comments. It can't be children so it must be someone who passes as an adult.

GET A LIFE

[firethorn]

I'm a late-comer to this debate because I wanted to reserve comment until I'd actually seen the common with my own eyes. Having done so, I must say I have fairly mixed feelings. I was born and brought up less than half a mile from the common, it was my childhood and teenage playground throughout the mid 60's and right up until the late 70's when I left Sheff.

 

I thought I knew the common like the back of my hand, but it has changed so much since the days of my childhood. I visit every time I come home to Sheff. At first the changes were small and infrequent but over the past few years they have really accelerated. Sometimes I barely recognise the place I grew up on.

 

The nostalgic part of my personality regrets these changes. After all, there was no such thing as "countryside management" as such, when I was a kid. The local council (or local vandals, I never quite knew who) would come along and burn all the heather once every couple of years or so, but that was about it. Somehow the common seemed to tick over nicely without any interference.

 

However, looking at it another way, the more modern part of my personality does recognise that there is a need for at least some countryside management. Wonderful as the common was when we were kids, it would have been impossible for disabled people to enjoy the full benefits, as access was difficult and most of the paths unsuitable for wheelchairs or people with mobility difficulties. Although the installation of man-made paths and the creation of easy access routes have gone some way towards destroying the "wild" look, we must welcome the fact that this beautiful area has now been opened up to many people who may previously have been denied access.

 

Also, as many contributors to this thread have pointed out, in the old days, when cattle and sheep grazed, local cottages industries flourished and people used the land to live from, rather than just admire, the countryside more or less managed itself. In these days, if there is not at least some form of management, then it is true to say that places like Wadsley/Loxley Common would revert to impenetrable wilderness within a frighteningly short space of time.

 

Where I do take issue though, is with the type of countryside management being applied to Wadsley and Loxley Commons. It is mismanagement. It is over management. The tree-felling is a disgrace. It seems to me as if chainsaws have been dished out willy-nilly to a bunch of amateurs who have just been told to "get on with it" without any sort of expert supervision. The end result seems to have been that a bunch of cowboys have rampaged around the common randomly hacking down trees wherever they took a fancy and just leaving the cut down timber wherever they found a space.

 

If the trees had been felled properly, if some sort of structured plan had been implemented, if some sort of effort had been made to properly use or dispose of the felled trees and branches, I may have more sympathy with the point of view of those people who support the need for hands-on management of the common. As it stands, every instinct in my body is screaming "just leave the place alone" - because unless and until the management is done properly, all we will see is the continuing municipal vandalism of a once sacred place

[dogsma]

My friend and myself were up on the common the other day sitting on the bench in the middle,we heard birdsong and then spotted a skylark flying over,we havn't seen one in years and it was wonderful to see and watch.:)We have noticed more birdsong and birds returning to our common so the management program must be having some impact. Thank you Rangers etc.

[ellesmere200]

Who is the fool who keeps defacing the posters. Your point of view is not neccessarily the only one and is certainly based on sentimentality and not "common" sense

[ellesmere200]

We have a new Ranger starting in December. Let's hope he doesn't have to put up with the abuse that Jason did. Jason has started his new job (another step up the ladder for a very knowleagable man) and is very happy. We wish him all the best for the future.