Issue 8 June 2001
FEATURESFoot & Mouth – An Epidemic of misinformationby Kevin Howett I was with the International Meet's visiting world climbers. They had endured 'full' Scottish conditions for days and now the storms were clearing to give the most spectacular winter climbing weather for 10 years. This is what they had come for. But it was not to be. The radio crackled with the news that Foot & Mouth had been confirmed in Galloway. Scotland was about to close down. When the epidemic started the MCofS recommended walkers and climbers follow sensible Ministry of Agriculture (MAFF) advice to keep out of infected areas and stay away from livestock in unaffected areas. But as it spread, panic set in. The Scottish Executive passed emergency laws allowing local authorities to close land. Possibly for fear of being labelled as 'the one that ignored advice and brought devastation on the farming community' every local authority, landowner and farmer (including the National Trust, John Muir Trust, Forest Enterprise and RSPB) placed signs on every gate, path, carpark and public footpath, 'closing' the countryside. Many signs bore official local council logos and the attendant implication that they notified a legal requirement. In actual fact, no council north of the central belt had enacted the powers to enforce closure and fine those who ignored them.
Double Standards Advice in the press and from the Farmers Union was that Foot & Mouth was very contagious and carried by the wind, on cars, on clothes and in your nostrils. Everyone was seen as a carrier. MCofS wrote to Ministers and the Scottish Executive for clarification and guidance, but none was forthcoming. Ross Finnie, Minister for Rural Development, and Sam Galbraith, Minister for the Environment, simply stated on TV that skiing was OK, but walking/climbing not and we had little choice but to recommend our members stay off the land until we had better advice. And this they did voluntarily in droves. Facts about the actual disease finally started emerging. Contrary to the emotive images of distressed animals we were seeing in the press, we were now discovering that the disease was the equivalent of a 'bad bout of flue' and only fatal to about 2% of animals; that it could run its course. It was endemic over 50% of the world. The burning pyres and the restriction on public movement was due to economic issues not animal welfare or human health. If it was allowed to be endemic in the UK then farmers could not trade live animals across Europe, ironically, an issue which stirred a lot of public opposition some years ago with ordinary people protesting at ports against the inhumane movement of live animals. Dr Donaldson, Head of the Institute for Animal Health Laboratories at Purbright, was quoted as saying that Foot & Mouth was "very unlikely to be spread by ramblers, riders or country folk in general". He went on to say that the only people likely to spread the virus were people who have held infected animals by the nose. He said that cars could conceivably pick up the virus but were not likely to spread it. This was repeated by Dr Abigail Wood, a scientist, a practising vet, and a historian of the disease, in The Times on 1st March. Despite this Highland Council cordoned off the Region's roads with disinfectant baths costing £27K/week. All the cases of Foot & Mouth had been caused by transportation of infected animals. However, farmers continued to transport stock across the country – 1.3million beasts in the first 4 weeks of the crisis – making negotiations for access even more difficult (e.g. Pat Wilson moved sheep from Perthshire to his estate near Kinlochewe, but refused to accommodate access there). Later it was learnt some movements were illegal as part of a scam to gain higher subsidies. Skiing continued and despite the scientific evidence, walkers remained unwelcome.
The Effect on Tourism These small businesses (bunkhouses, guides/instructors, cafes, outdoor shops etc) would not receive the degree of compensation for their losses as farmers, although the Executive promised to help in some way. It was later revealed how farmers in Lakeland who had lost stock were to receive up to £3m compensation each.
A Slow Painful awakening Finally in April the Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department (SERAD) issued more positive guidance. This stated that the general public do not represent any kind of threat of transmission to sheep or deer on the open hill and recommended local councils act on this advice.
What Now? What can we learn from all this? - that many landowners will use any excuse to keep the public off the land and once given any powers to close their land will do so with impunity. With the draconian clauses in the draft Legislation giving lawful permission (without the need for consultation) to landowners to 'close' land for such things as lambing (as currently Athol estate is doing with Glen Tilt, and not for F&M fears), we may see similar effects on access repeated across the country in the future in the name of 'land management'. You must comment on the legislation to prevent it!
Disease Facts:
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Mountain Article CompetitionAlso included in the magazine was a winning entry for our annual competition - There's always a first time, by Nic Bullivant
Hard Winter Climbing within the Arctic Circleby Pete Benson During March 2001, two well known activists on the Scottish winter climbing scene, Pete Benson and Guy Robertson, made a short trip to the Lofoten Islands to discover a new "Scottish" winter cragging venue! Often referred to by Norwegians as the 'Magic Islands', the Lofoten's are situated some 100 km inside the Arctic Circle off the north west coast of Norway. Prior to the trip, little was known about winter climbing in Lofoten, so it was difficult to ascertain what had and hadn't been climbed previously. This is largely because the small numbers of active winter climbers based in northern Norway are not in the habit of recording winter ascents. Upon arrival, the weather and conditions were fantastic, with the team quickly making the fist ascent of the North Wall of Vagakallen within the first few days of the trip. The North Wall of Vagakallen is around 800m high and gave some beautiful and varied climbing on perfect snow, ice and turf at an Alpine grade of ED1. The route took two days, with a chilly night spent in a cave with no sleeping bags. The face starts from sea level and is 15 minutes walk from the road. Further exploration yielded a number of excellent first ascents including the east face of Maltind which gave an excellent 600m route, sustained and steep with pitches up to technical Scottish 8. The potential for exploratory winter climbing in Lofoten is tremendous. They catch the moist, warm air of the Gulf Stream, yet they're well inside the Artic Circle. They're liberally endowed with big, vegetated crags, some comparable with the best in Europe, and many only a stone's thrown from the road. They're easily accessible by sea or by air, have an excellent road network, yet they're still geographically remote. Finally, a combination of consistently wet, warm summers and long, cold winters should be expected to build up Nevis-like accumulations of good snow and ice. The Scottish Winter Lofoten Expedition would like to thank Scotland Online, the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, the Scottish Mountaineering Trust, Scarpa and Lyon Equipment for supporting the expedition. Further information on the trip and climbing in Lofoten Islands can be found at www.scotlandonline.com/outdoors.
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