Whether you know Dave or have never come across him, the 10 minute video produced by the Fort William Mountain Film festival (see here), much of which is set in the Cairngorms National Park, should be an inspiration for anyone concerned about the natural environment and access to nature. It shows just what can be achieved through campaigning.
Dave is a close friend and prompted me to set up parkswatchscotland. After two fruitless years trying to persuade the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority not to extend its camping byelaws, rather than accept defeat I decided to go public. It was Dave who suggested that if I was going to set up a blog to expose what was going on, it might as well cover both our National Parks. While occasionally cursing him for the idea, since then he has been a regular contributor and a constant source of support and advice” behind the scenes”.
Here, I would just like to add one story to Dave’s account of his campaigning in the video. I was one of the representatives of recreational organisations that sat with Dave on the Access Forum when it was tasked with negotiating a right of access with landowning interests. After six months of intensive and difficult discussions, the landowning interests finally conceded that the traditional freedoms of access in Scotland for climbers and walkers should be enshrined in law. I remember the moment well, there was a collective sigh of relief as we all thought the negotiations were over.
But as Magnus Magnusson, who was in the chair, started to try and wind up the proceedings Dave insisted on being heard, “what about cyclists and horse riders”? You could have heard a pin drop! My heart missed a beat as I wondered if the landowning interests would storm out of the room. Dave broke the silence with his answer: in Norway people could ride bikes or horses across fields so long as they weren’t doing damage and we should have similar rights in Scotland. Amazingly, one meeting later and it was all agreed, applying the same principles we had used for climbing and hillwalking.
Translating that agreement into law took a lot more campaigning, in which Dave played a key role, but that is another story. The point is anyone who has enjoyed exercising their rights of access in Scotland on horse or bike has Dave to thank.
Dave has never stopped campaigning and it is fitting he should have the last word in this post, a letter that was published in the Herald earlier this week:
Great post must confess I have never heard of Dave Morris
A very well deserved accolade for Dave Morris. He has shown what is possible with determination and a never give up attitude. There will always be environmental battles to fight and Dave has been and continues to be a superb role model. There’s an election coming up soon and I do hope that the electorate will waken up to the fact that it is past the time for Fergus Ewing to be voted out. His decision to repair the Cairngorm Funicular and waste circa 16m pounds of public money on what has been a Commercial disaster is reason enough, on its own, for people to lend their votes to another candidate.
Thank you for sharing. A nice story
What an amazing guy; so dedicated and knowledgeable. My husband Peter and I had the pleasure of meeting Dave a couple of times with Nick when attending LLTNPA Board meetings – a really interesting chap to talk to. Congratulations on a well-earned Award, Dave!
Good to see he’s still winning awards for his great work… https://www.northern-times.co.uk/news/watch-figurehead-environmental-campaigner-dave-morris-wins-top-mountain-award-228875
Thank you Nick for highlighting Dave’s tremendous contribution to the campaigns for access rights and mountain protection. This award is deserved recognition for many years of dedication and hard work.
I would like to pick up on your comment about Dave insisting to be heard at the National Access Forum meeting to ask the question about cyclists and horse riders. A few years after that meeting, another National Access Forum meeting was informed by a civil servant that canoeing and other water-based access was going to be dropped from the proposed new access rights in Scotland. Dave was the first person to raise a hand and speak up. “This whole process stops, right now, and we don’t go any further until water is put back into the draft Bill. If water isn’t in there, not only will it mean no access for canoeing and other watersports, but before long we won’t even be allowed to walk beside a river. The recreational bodies will stand together on this, and we will insist that water goes back in.”
Water was very quickly re-instated and statutory access rights now apply to land and water throughout Scotland, so every canoeist, kayaker, rower, wild swimmer and sailor should be aware of Dave’s intervention at that National Access Forum meeting. But for Dave’s strong and swift action that day, our access rights could have been severely watered down.
Hi Mike, I should have mentioned water based sports! When Dave raised the question of canoeists during the original access negotiations – water sports weren’t directly represented at the table – Magnus Magnusson tried to deflect him claiming “Ramblers have not yet learnt to walk on water!”.
… and now Loch Lomond and Trossachs NPA have excluded water recreation and fishing from the “refreshed” Outdoor Recreation Delivery Plan. It is so “refreshed” that the final version has not yet appeared. Dare I hope that these missing elements have been added?