The actions of vandals who have wrecked a trig point on top of a Lake District fell have been condemned by members of walking groups in the Keswick area.
Hikers visiting the top of Loughrigg at the weekend were shocked to discover that the summit pinnacle had been pushed over and broken completely in two.
Eileen Jones, freelance journalist, writer and author of How parkrun Changed Our Lives, visits the top of Loughrigg at least once a week and said that it was clear that whoever had caused the damage had given the trig “a large push”. She said it had not helped that the metal column that held the trig together, and ran through its centre, was corroded.
“I am heartbroken. I run up there at least once every week. It’s my talisman and special place.
“It’s where I always stop and talk to people and Loughrigg is such an iconic fell. It’s got such little height but has this magnificent spread with this tremendous trig point.
“I have had my picture taken up there in all sorts of weathers. I am really glad that I did not go up there on my own on Monday because I would have been really upset.”
Steve Reay, a member of Keswick Rambling Club’s committee, said that Ordnance Survey would have put the trig in place and said the national mapping agency was unlikely to replace it as it now used satellite imagery and GPS technology for triangulation and working out the height of fells and mountains.
“It’s a bit of history that has been vandalised,” said Mr Reay. “There are quite a few walks that we do up there and that top is visited by a lot of people. A trig point like that is a great aid for navigation. It was built by OS to help with mapping and in doing that they have created a physical marker where people can identify where they are and it not being there is wrong on so many levels.”
Anna Nolan, who leads all the walks undertaken by Skiddaw U3A Roamers, condemned the “mindless vandals” who have wrecked the trig point which has featured in many of the group’s hikes.
“I am appalled and distressed,” she said. “Whoever has done this needs to be educated in how to respect such things. It (the trig point) is the property of everybody. Why would they do that, just for kicks? It’s incomprehensible and it’s so sad.”
David Claxton, secretary of The Wainwright Society, said: “It’s very sad indeed that the summit trig which has stood proudly on the top of Loughrigg Fell for well over 60 years appears to have been destroyed by a senseless act of vandalism.
“Trig pillars were important in mapping the Lakeland fells and Alfred Wainwright suggested that the pillar on Loughrigg must have been voted by the surveyors who built it as ‘the most beautifully situated of all.’ It’s particularly sad, therefore, to hear that the trig pillar has been torn down and we hope that it will be reinstated.”
