I don't want to put words into Stuarts mouth, but taking a look at their website, there does seem to be many articles about Mend our mountains in popular destinations such as Ingleborough, Wernside and the lake district. I guess these are our hills and mountains and they do need mending, but my cynical side would lean on the fact that these are popular search terms and likely to give The BMC good press in the social media outlets. retweets and reposts of people that have been there recently, and therefore promoting a good self image with a few albeit large and hard to organise events which are high impact.
There will be hills which go unpublicised by the BMC, and which are probably equally in need of some attention, probably even some of them along the spine route of England (other than kinder scout and Kirk Yetholme), some of the ones not far out of deprived areas of the UK. These are the areas we need people to visit.
The mass trespass would have been a big galvaniser for getting a huge swathe of society out into the countryside, we have had another recent event which also did the same, and taking a look at their news page from around that time there was one article that caught my eye along the lines of this
https://www.thebmc.co.uk/the-grass-isnt-greener-for-everyone-why-access-to-green-space-matters
It references a report by the Ramblers, of which there are 10 points which have been made, only a couple are highlighted in the BMC article.
https://cdn.ramblers.org.uk/media/files/ramblers-access-nature-11_0.pdf
There are 32 employees of the BMC, according to their website with 75k members (and 250 affiliate clubs).
The Ramblers have 100 staff members with 100k members.
The BMC's mantra seems to be being all things to all people. and whether it's possible or not to provide assistance to all is potentially up for debate.
Our Values
Community: We are the voice for our diverse community of climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers.
Adventure: We believe in the freedom to challenge ourselves, taking personal responsibility for the risks.
Sustainability: We protect our crags and mountains, campaign for improved access and promote environmental sustainability.
Aspiration: We help people improve their skills, confidence and achieve personal ambitions.
Respect: We celebrate the rich variety of British climbing, hill walking and mountaineering; we build inclusive relationships and respect each other.
Our 2020-2024 Mission
We will link the work of all our staff, volunteers, clubs, and partners, to campaign effectively and increase engagement, becoming a stronger voice for climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers.
One part of the Ramblers report which is not outlined in the BMC article is Terry's story:
"We live in a flat in a built-up area, and we’ve no private garden, but it’s still lovely because we have access to two nature reserves within a few minutes’ walk – proximity is everything when you don’t drive and there’s minimal public transport. It’s when I’m outdoors and away from machine noises that I feel my connection to the whole planet most. In green spaces, I feel self-aware and at the same time connected to everything I’m hearing and seeing. Sometimes, it’s overwhelming. On my regular short-walk around the fields I can hear birds which I think are skylarks. The very first time I heard them I got a lump in my throat, the freshness of seeing something so new, that I’d never experienced before, brought me to tears of joy. How lucky I am."
The bread and butter of your youth climbers, Hill walkers and people without access to a car in the UK will have to use public transport. For me there are two standout moments in my uni days, one was getting on a train to North wales and then a bus to llanberis to camp with Jonny Booth and climb Snowdon (before sunrise) and come down Crib Goch, hitchhiking our way back down to llanberis as my walking boots were giving me jip.
The other was getting a train from near Crewe to Aberdare train station to then do Craig Yr Ffynnon.
I think i've also done the same for Mendip in those days, Yatton Station rings a bell, i think i got off one too soon at Nailsea by accident and got chided by my friends.
I look at my links into Derbyshire from where I live and can see great gaps in the service, for example there is no link between Glossop and Chapel-en-le-Frith by Bus.
But it's easy to look in hindsight at some of these things.
www.ukclimbing.com
