Comments on: Downs on the up

By: Martin K

Martin K — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:18:30 +0000

As somebody that had the pleasure of a handful of guitar lessons with you a few years ago, I surf over to you site from time to time. In my past life, I spent 10 years in Berwick (East Sussex) and have walked and biked on the South Downs between Eastbourne and Lewes more times than I can remember. It was great to see some recent pics of the old stomping ground. Alas, I am exiled now to SW Florida where there are no hills more than six feet above sea level.

By: Steve Dix

Steve Dix — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:25:56 +0000

Hmmm. Smacks of misdirection to me. A Government that has taken away rights which previous generations fought bitterly for, now graciously allows us “official” rights to wander over a piece of land, which, I suspect, everyone’s been doing for quite a while anyway.

Just as long as you don’t go protesting on it or hold one of them rave thingys and scare the sheep.

By: adrian

adrian — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 10:21:04 +0000

That’s what I mean, though, Mike – the Guardian is at least not owned by a single proprietor and shareholders in the same sense as the Express or Times. The Scott Trust (as in CP Scott) is sole shareholder in the Guardian Media Group. They’re not immune from occasional bad decisions, but they’ve done nothing to make me stop buying the paper in over 20 years, so they must be doing something right!

By: MikeE

MikeE — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 10:09:47 +0000

To be honest Adrian, I think there’s little point in trusting any of the mainstream papers in this country anymore. They’re all in thrall to the whims of their proprietors or the media corporations that own them. I’m coming to the conclusion that the great traditions of newspaper journalism have largely bitten the dust in recent years, with correspondents and journalsists content to remain in their offices, working from press releases or the output of bloggers, and endlessly rehashing each other’s copy rather than getting out and investigating stories. Having said that, I find the Indie the least annoying of them all, although one or two of the US papers are still readable when accessible.

Oh, and I agree totally re; the North Downs as a national park.

By: adrian

adrian — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 07:44:54 +0000

Why stop trusting the Guardian – it’s the only hope we’ve got!

Seriously, it’s the only paper I’d read… the Independent is worthy, but I find it boring. The rest are either full of lies or politically so far from my opinions as to be pointless reading (or both). It’s also nice to read a paper where there’s no rich mogul at the top, controlling the spin to suit his views.

By: SteveShark

SteveShark — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:53:00 +0000

I’ve even stopped trusting the Guardian now – it seems to have lost touch with reality.
Yes, it’s great that areas like the South Downs are protected, but it doesn’t make up for what Labour have done to our civil liberties.