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Locals know how best to run national parks
The church of St Michael de Rupe at Brentor in Dartmoor National Park, Devon
Credit: russgallery images
SIR – Seventy years ago, the first English national parks were set up. The Government recently said that they represented one of the most outstanding environmental achievements of the past 100 years.
Since 1995, the national park authorities have been independent statutory bodies, with a majority of local councillors on their boards. However, according to documents leaked to the BBC’s
Countryfile programme (shown March 28), the Government now plans to bring all the functions and responsibilities of the protected landscapes into a single organisational structure, effectively a new national quango.
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Moor to my liking … the author enjoys the undulating vastness of Dartmoor. Photograph: Chris Moss
Moor to my liking … the author enjoys the undulating vastness of Dartmoor. Photograph: Chris Moss
It took our writer seven years to grasp the subtle drama of south Devon’s national park. As he prepares to leave the area, he shares some local knowledge and his favourite spots
Sat 3 Apr 2021 06.00 EDT
William Crossing wrote more than 15 books about Dartmoor, with titles including Amid Devonia’s Alps, The Land of Stream and Tor, and Tales of the Dartmoor Pixies. Needless to say, he adored the place. Born in Plymouth in 1847, Crossing lived in the villages of South Brent, Brentor and Mary Tavy, and over five decades got to know Dartmoor’s people, traditions, history and prehistory better than anyone. Though the leading chronicler of his time, he is nowhere near as famous today as Alfred Wainwright – just as Dartmoor isn’t as eulogised, romanticised or popular as the Lake Di
Credit: andy hepburn/pa
SIR – When I saw the headline, “BBC Four to become repeats channel”, I laughed, as the majority of programmes are already repeats.
As I read on, my amusement turned to anger, since the money the BBC hopes to save is to be spent on “young-appealing programmes”, instead of a few documentaries for the oldest viewership. Having now charged these very people the licence fee, this is the final insult.
Linda Davis
SIR – I thought the BBC already had a repeats channel in BBC Two. On Sunday, of 24 programmes shown, 20 were repeats.
Allan J Eyre
SIR – Many pensioners reintroduced to paying for a TV licence will be less than thrilled to read that the BBC’s way ahead is to focus on youth.