1^st April 2025

Walking home from Holyrood, on a perfect evening, in the clearest air, cool and sunny, I decided to take the scenic route.

The north end is still barricaded off with ugly green Cold War barriers, chestnut paling fencing and random signage, all within sight of Parliament.  This reminds MSPs how the ‘Right to Roam’ doesn’t exist on their own doorstep.  It also reminds the public that the MSPs and the Government are failing to hold Historic and Environment Scotland (HES) to account for their poor management of Holyrood Park.

An alternative access route is still used.

At the north end the ascending path is getting increasingly overgrown, largely with broom but also with whin.  There are no signs of rock falls.  There are some stones on the path, the size of potatoes and the occasional turnip, which may be debris from HES’s descaling exercises.

The Peregrine was back building its nest.

At the top quarry the old cast aluminum warning signs remain intact, but faded and graffitied.

Some of the graffiti on the rock has been over-sprayed in black but not removed.

People walk along the top of the crags in considerable numbers.  Clearly this is infinitely more dangerous than walking along the path below.  This is a risk people assess for themselves and are happy to accept.  The public should be allowed to do the same for the Radical Road!  When are HES going to put a railing across it or deny access?!  Maybe they will do the same for the top of Arthur’s Seat; sadly these are places where there have been fatalities.  This is all such nonsense.

There are two further ugly barriers, a middle barrier and the south end barrier, with signage in various states of decay.  The middle barrier is heavily padlocked.  The South end barrier is all locked too, but is no deterrent to climbers of any ability.

There were two students above Hutton’s quarry, climbing and enjoying the evening; they could not believe or understand how the place has been closed by HES for more than 6 years.

 

 

Radical road update from Historic Environment Scotland

Since this walk, HES have sent out an update (see here), an incredible piece of corporate-speak.  I am sure HES believe what they say but this is only because they are democratically unaccountable and don’t permit any challenge.

• This update has not been publicised, it is not on their website.
• It’s interesting that HES call it the Radical Road.  For a long time HES have tried to downplay the significance of the Radical Road and talk about the Park as a whole, perhaps hoping the issue will get forgotten.  (Talk about the Park as a whole, of course, only exposes more incompetence.)
• “our commitment to improve access to the Radical Road” is of course nonsense.  It’s a form of words and a delaying tactic.  Any serious commitment would not have got HES to where they are and would have had the track opened long ago.
• The ‘scaling works’ are idiotic/pointless and expensive.  Rocks fall off cliffs.  No amount of descaling will alter this natural process.  No other similar organisation/sensible body/private owner is/would be doing this.
• “our dedicated teams have also been working hard to carry out essential activities to improve access to the Radical Road”.  The reality is exactly the opposite!  The evidence on the ground of ugly barricades and collapsing signage show indifference and neglect.
• A habitat survey sounds good but is entirely irrelevant.  Of course it’s a wonderful habitat but this is no reason to deny everyone the right to roam.
• “we have designed and will be installing appropriate signage”.  Really? The original sensible signage is already there, it just needs cleaning.  The current, modern, signage is in a state of collapse and disarray.
• The use of drones or ‘unmanned aerial vehicles’ (UAV) may sound impressive to some but anyone who understands the issues knows has been it to be useless in assessing the state of the monuments that HES closed because of the consequences of closing the Radical Road.  Visual information does not tell anyone what is loose or about to fall.  Touch is the only way, as experienced on rocks by climbers.  The closure and failure to reopen many monuments throughout Scotland is still affecting communities and businesses.
• There is a major difference of the impact of rockfalls on a pedestrian track and a vehicular highway by Samson’s Ribs.
• This note doesn’t mention how the risk of falling off the top of Salisbury Crags is infinitely greater than walking along the Radical Road underneath, or that there have never been any fatalities on Radical Road, unlike, say, the top of Arthur’s Seat itself.
• Nor does it mention the northern section; clearly this is something HES are unable to cope with, because of who HES are and how they operate.  HES are the problem.