JohnClimber wrote: ↑Wed May 12, 2021 9:17 pm

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Wed May 12, 2021 9:01 pm ....... already scorched ground, which was clearly widely used for 'gatherings' as there was a large amount of litter and beer cans etc around. It didn't feel like an irresponsible act..........................

If Rob didn't think that as "irresponsible", he's just as bad as the ones leaving "the large amount of litter and beer cans etc around."

Did he and the team take out at least some of the litter and beer cans as most of us would have, if we had the ability to carry at least a bit of it out?

but it is ok to light a fire, responsibly. It is legal to do so in the UK. Even responsible bikepacking brands like Alpkit sell cooking facilities to cook on fires. I prefer gas stoves, tbh, but my friend always builds responsibly with dead wood, causes not damage, puts it out with water and buries it to leave no trace, as we did here, but we can’t account for what happens after we left. In fact, we had to letter pick on arrival, as it’s so popular. As it’s legal in the UK, I’m not sure we deserve the line of attack we’ve got.

What leads you to believe that lighting a fire is in anyway legal? I believe you were on FE land and they have a strict no fire policy in place. If you were on privately owned land and most of the land in the UK is, then a fire could be considered criminal damage. I'd also question why you'd want a fire? It wasn't cold, and you had no need to cook on it. Perhaps lighting a fire was no more than a marketing tool, something that looks 'cool' and portrays what you believe to be the 'right image'? Do remember that you chose to put yourself in the public eye and in doing so you unwittingly became a role model and with that comes responsibility.You're correct, you can't account for what others do but you can lead by example in the hope that they follow. Perhaps use this as an opportunity to change tack and promote good practice rather than trying to justify your actions with some quite frankly, piss poor excuses. Oh and burying the remains of a fire is not LNT, that's simply sweeping it under the carpet.