Plus, after climbing a mountain a nice cup of tea and a cake would go down
very well!
The first time i went to the Lake District i marvelled at the natural
scenery...until i realised that what i was seeing - a lot of fields, and a
treeless landscape - was created by farmers. So, i guess you have to
appreciate that what seems natural is in some cases very unnatural (and
thats even before you get on to nature as a social construction!)
Jon
>From: Mike Kesby <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Mike Kesby <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Snowdon Cafe
>Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 13:11:55 +0100
>
>Trouble is Hillary - railways and cafes are all very useful for the
>elderly, children and those with disabilities and prevent "our best
>landscapes/highest mountains" becoming "spaces of exclusion".
>But never fear - the "best views" of this particular mountain are available
>from nearby "Crib Gogh" (spelling ?). This knife edge ridge is likely to
>remain accessible only to the able bodied/experienced/fool-hardy climber
>for the foreseeable future - thereby preventing its commodification by
>capitalist enterprise (although not by "Munro" baggers who fetishize
>landscape elements, especially summits).
>I think your cable car up Everest is a great idea (although I'm not sure
>such a rapid assent would be healthy) as it would aid the recovery of the
>bodies of those who decided to walk and then wished they hadn't.
>
>I think one should treat mountain climbing like life: it's not the getting
>there that matters - it's what you see and learn on the way that counts:
>It's not how high you climb but whether you do it with style and without
>treading on the fingers of others: treat every pinnacle of achievement as a
>brief enjoyable high before another long decent into the valley of life's
>miseries: While everyone wants to get to the top, the top is a very lonely
>and dangerous place to be, and besides sometimes the greater pleasure is
>simply to watch others try ... and fail: and finally, If you do find a
>restaurant at the top of your mountain of achievement take it as an
>indication that you weren't the first, and you wont be the last. The key
>thing is, can you still say: "I did it ....... Myyyyy waaayyyyy"
>:-)
>
>Mike
>hhmmm perhaps I needed another day's holiday
>
>
>
>>What is that of a conception of the "natural"? What is "our best
>>landscape"? Where humans dwell - by building for example - the "natural"
>>regresses? Is landscape destroyed by humans' dwelling? Is "nature" the
>>virgin place and a "good" landscape one without human?
>>
>>
>>Le 27 mars 05, à 21:58, Hillary Shaw a écrit :
>>
>>>Why do we need to plonk anything at the top of Snowdon at all. We already
>>>have a rack railway running up and down it - why not take this
>>>opportunity to demolish the 'third rate cafe' altogether and build a good
>>>visitor centre, cafe, etc at the bottom end of the railway. Keep the top
>>>of one of our best landscapes / highest mountains as natural as possible.
>>>(What would people's reaction be if Nepal announced it was to build a
>>>hotel at the top of Everest, accessed by a cable car?)
>>>
>>>Hillary Shaw, Geography, University of Southampton
>>>
>>>
>>>In the dim and distant past, the building at the top of Snowdon was
>>>labelled "Hotel" on OS maps.
>>>
>>>I was very disappointed, after my first ascent, to discover it was a
>>>third rate cafe!
>>>
>>>I wonder if a new building will improve the quality of the comestibles
>>>offered.
>>>
>>>
>>>
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