When James Herriot, in his book James Herriot's Yorkshire, said the view from Sutton Bank 'is the finest in England', he could not have foreseen that the National Grid would erect huge, monstrous pylons to create the ultimate blot on a beautiful landscape.
When the travel writer Bill Bryson described the National Grid's pylons as intrusive and outrageous (Evening Press, December 2), one has to question why an American can see the folly of the pylons while the 'big brothers' of the National Grid cannot?
When I wrote The North Of England Way, a guide to a 200-mile coast to coast walk taking in the best of England's countryside, including three of the finest National Parks and the tremendous views from Sutton Bank, little did I realise that the National Grid would create a sully on the whole walk.
When an American company called Walk England Ltd brings some 30 Americans over next year to complete the North of England Way, will they remember the glories of the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors, or will they remember the metallic monster pylons they walk under?
When St Aelred, the 12th-century Abbot of Rievaulx Abbey, wrote of the North York Moors: "Everywhere peace, everywhere serenity and a marvellous freedom from the tumult of the world", little did he know that the National Grid would bring one of the worst aspects of the 'modern' world to the edge of the moors.
When Alfred Wainwright, the world's most famous fell-walker, once said of another large intrusion on the North of England countryside "big brother won as he usually does", was he right? Will big brother win yet again?
Beauty in the back garden is never fully appreciated until it disappears. Now is the time for the people of North Yorkshire and beyond to say they will not accept the loss of some of their finest countryside. Speak out and protest soon, before it is too late.
David Maughan,
Hunters Close,
York.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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