‘Why do I kick the Peak District Stone Stack’

The stone stack is a common vision with hiking hiking above and below Britain.

But a walker is on a mission to highlight the damage they can do to the environment – by kicking them.

Stuart Cox says some people are building piles – some in the form of 6 feet (1.8 m) – using stones taken from an old wall near Maam Tor in Peak district in Derbyshire.

Recently, a video that he has filmed by kicking the stack himself has been viewed more than a million times on social media.

And the Peak District National Park Authority says that structures are “harmful” to the region, and have become more prevalent in recent years.

“Look at this,” Stuart says, before taking oath in disappointment during his Facebook video on 20 May.

“Destroy a lot of them.” He then proceeds to kick a stone pile.

The 57 -year -old, who works as a chartered engineer, lives in Derbyshire village of Castleton, a small drive from Maam Tor.

He is emotional about the region, and regularly documentes his growth on his extreme district viking page.

But his posts about dozens of stacks, built next to the busy great ridge pavement – an increase of about 15 minutes from the peak of Ma’am Tor – got the most engagement.

He said, “Most of the people have been very helpful saying: ‘Yes, I hate them. If we see them, we reduce them back to their natural condition. All agree with you.”

“Then I had the opposite response: ‘Don’t tell me what to do. I would like I want and I would like it.”

“I had some dangers by personal messages, but I don’t worry about them.”

Peak district is away from the only place where a stone pile has proved to be problematic. For example, campaigners said Stones towers on a scottish beach There was a worrying tendency.

Stuart says that in her video, the pile is designed using stones taken from a pre -border wall, which ran with the popular Great Ridge Walk.

He is worried that it has damaged the houses of small creatures – such as frogs, tods and insects – which lived inside the wall.

This is a scene shared by the National Trust.

“Most of the stone piles shown in this video are not on the National Trust Land,” said a spokesman.

“However, piles are piles on some parts of Maam Tor, and employees and volunteers will separate in any way found.”

The trust says that stone piles have also been an issue on the ground for which it is responsible.

It said that Rangers did extensive work for the protection and protection of Hilphates in Maam Tor, which is a “Scheduled Monument and is a great archaeological significance”.

“The peak forest wall is also historically important, which is returning itself in 1579,” said a spokesman.

“Sadly, stone piles are not only affecting the history of the site, but they are also affecting the natural habitats of wildlife that live and feed within these ancient walls.

“In the long term, it will disrupt the delicate balance of the landscape.”

Stuart says Already in a popular moving place,

As Countryside codeVisitors should “leave rocks, stones, plants and trees as you find them and take care not to disturb wildlife including birds that make nests on the ground”.

Anna Badcock, cultural heritage manager of the National Park Authority, says stack damage damage “Special properties” of national park And in recent years the problem has deteriorated.

,[Stone stacks] Historical characteristics are made by stone removed, “he said.

“They are very harmful to the historical atmosphere, which we have a statutory duty to conserve.

“Like Walkers Cairns [a marker along a trail]Once one becomes one, it encourages more. ,

The authority states that its Rangers usually do not remove the pile “unless they are dangerous or create interruption of the right of the way”.

A spokesman said, “We know that National Trust Rangers have removed some Maam Tor for this reason.”

Stuart said that he had tried to make contact with the owner of the land on which heaps are located, and offered to help in the wall reconstruction.

And when his video has attracted some debate on social media, he hopes that it can make a small difference at the location he loves.

He said: “I am very emotional about this field, this is an area that people live and work, and to trace it, you know, it does a little bit of you.

“More important elements [of reaction to his video] Was: ‘I thought you were a fool when you were the first time watching the video, but by the time I had finished it, I realized, in reality I did not know and from now on I would not build the stack.’

“This is an important bit to me. Even though a handful of people have realized the error of their ways, it still made it more meaningful.”