Re your report on the “mystery” of the missing waymarks (‘Phantom post snatcher’ on Snowdonia Slate Trail wrongfoots ramblers, 22 August), this is no mystery at all. Our upland areas are mere fragments of once much larger tracts of wild land rich in biodiversity. Many people visit and cherish these areas for their very wildness. The sight of marker posts relentlessly marching across moor and mountain, urbanising these precious spaces is anathema to many who go there. I didn’t do it, but if I had the chance I’d pull them out too.
To those worried about poor souls getting lost in mist, the answer is simple: buy a map and learn how to use it. And visit your local mountain rescue website for more information on staying safe in hills.
Frank Price
Hilton, Cumbria
• I read with interest your piece about the phantom post snatcher of north Wales. May I suggest a possible solution to the mystery? Fifty years ago, I was visiting a friend who lived in an old huntsman’s cottage halfway up a Lakeland hillside and who knew the area like the back of his hand. We were tramping over the trackless high fells one day when I noticed him kicking over the small piles of stones that marked our route (if you looked carefully). This puzzled me, so I asked him what he was doing. I have never forgotten his reply: “Folk who need cairns to show them the way shouldn’t be up here in the first place.”
Steve Barr
Whittington, Staffordshire
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
