The Human Rights Violation

I've not really felt like writing much lately, which is funny considering my frenzied outburst two weeks ago when I'd started this blog. You'd be forgiven for thinking that I had given out all I had in my first week and left myself nothing left over to rant about later. You'd almost be right, until the next storm in a tea cup erupts.

In the news at the moment is still the four Britons who until recently were being detained in Guantanamo Bay. They arrived back in Britain yesterday and were detained by the police in London for questioning. They were released today without charge. Just goes to show they never should have been detained in the first place, but questions remain about the twelve foreign nationals still being detained in Britain without charge. Today the Home Secretary outlined plans to alter the emergency laws that had been detaining the men in favour of new laws that will still allow them to be detained without trial. Last month the law lords ruled that the detentions contravened the European Convention on Human Rights and the government are now trying to appease the law lords while still being able to detain the foreign nationals.

This is all a result of the panic that ensued after 11th September 2001 when broad sweeping powers were given to the government that allowed them to detain any foreign national they suspected of being a threat to national security. The new laws are no better merely letting the government vary the degree of detention from banning the use of mobile phones to house arrest. Most controversially the new powers will allow the detention without trial of British citizens as well as foreign nationals who will still not be given a fair trial where they can defend themselves against the charges. This whole situation is a mess but what do the government do instead? They have detained some people that they have evidence of being engaged in terrorist activities. They can't put them on trial because it would be too dangerous for members of the security services for the evidence to be heard in court and they can't be kicked out of the country because their home countries may torture or kill them, and no one else will have them.

So what do you do? You can't let them go free, even though you are unable to charge them with anything. What is to stop them engaging in terrorist activities once they have been set free? Clearly the government have been put into a difficult situation and have made a number of mistakes, maybe still are, but there are no easy solutions to this. There needs to be a clear method of dealing with people are suspected as being a danger to the public but are unable to obtain evidence that can be safely used in a court of law. I'm sure this sort of situation happens all the time where the police know that someone is a danger to the public but are unable to detain them because they don't have enough evidence. What makes terrorists a special case? Terrorists target the whole of society in an attempt to undermine our freedom. Their scope is much bigger than an ordinary child-molester, but there should be no difference. These anti-terrorism measures are curtailing the very same freedoms that we should be protecting.

Hollins Hill, Chrome Hill & Parkhouse Hill

Yesterday I decided that I wanted to go for a walk; my first of the New Year. My target was Chrome hill in the Peak District, which has been in my sights for just over a year ever since my Father got a book of the Peak District from the air. One of the pictures was of Chrome Hill which I'd never seen before and piqued my curiosity but it took until yesterday for me to satisfy it. One advantage of my wait is that I was able to benefit from the new Open Access agreements that came into force in the Peak District last autumn. In addition to Chrome hill I was able to walk up Hollins hill and Parkhouse hill that walkers were not able to go up this time last year.

I parked in Hollinsclough (SK06526652), once I'd been able to find it, it's not very well signposted. Setting off I headed north-west out of the village up the road. It wasn't long before I reached a footpath on the right heading back down the hill to a footbridge over the young river dove. Turning left after the bridge I headed up the hill briefly until I sighted a recently installed gate marked Concessionary Path to Open Access Land. Passing through the gate I maneuvered around the cows and followed the path beside a fence and the steep hillside before the path doubled back and headed steeply up the hillside. After a short distance the path doubled back again and came along side a fence that it followed as it gained height. The Open Access Land was the steep ground descending to my right but I was perched precariously at the top of the ridge making my way along to the summit of Hollins Hill. On the map there is a tumulus at the summit but in practice it is a mound with a circular hole in the middle and a wooden stake in it, which I'm sure was a tumulus at one time.

Heading along the access path I descended to the track just south of Booth Farm. Walking north along the road I soon noticed a gap in the fence on the right which I took to be the beginning of the footpath marked on the map. Crossing the field I came across a farm track which had branched off from the road and crossing it found a stile next to the gate on the track. Taking this path I bypassed Stoop Farm going to the north of it until I approached the track again by a gate, but I didn't go through the gate. Beside the gate were two signposts directing a Concessionary path to Chrome Hill and Glutton Bridge. This path headed south-east to the right of a fence passing Tor Rock on the right. Not being able to resist it I sprinted off onto the top of Tor Rock to admire the view, principally of Chrome Hill. Technically I was trespassing since Tor Rock is not on Access Land so I quickly headed back onto the path which headed steeply downhill south of Tor Rock .

Once onto the Access Land the path climbs steeply and muddily onto the top of the ridge and you begin your ascent of Chrome Hill. Being the kind of guy I am I kept to the very top of the ridge all the way even if it meant going out of my to do so. I would go to the top of an out-thrust of rock and stand there for a moment looking north, ignoring the fact that to the south of me was more of the hill still to climb. Once at the top I sat down and basked in the view of the upper river dove valley. I never tire of being on top of hills and seeing the stunning scenery all around me. Chrome Hill is only about 430 metres and is smaller than Hollins Hill which tops 450 but the best feature of Chrome Hill is the view of it rather than from it. All day I had had views of the majestic lump of rock as I had circled around it like a bird of prey trying to decide which bit of the carcass to attack first. It is a huge fin of limestone rock stuck into the ground but is matched if not in bulk then in the steepness of it's sides by it's neighbour, Parkhouse Hill. This hill, lying south-east of Chrome Hill had until recently been private property with no access allowed for walkers but all that has changed. Both Parkhouse Hill and it's tumulus-topped unnamed northern partner are now on Open Access Land so once I had descended the grassier southern slopes of Chrome Hill I crossed the road and began my ascent of Parkhouse Hill. At the western end of Parkhouse is a small pillar of rock necessitating an ascent on the northern slopes before gaining the ridge. Parkhouse Hill is a smaller hill in bulk, though steeper, than Chrome Hill so the summit was achieved rather more quickly. Descending the eastern end of Parkhouse I discovered no path off the access land; though there is a gate to the north I had no intention of going in that direction. Following the fence clockwise around the foot of the hill I headed onto the road and crossing it joined the track passing Stannery heading back to Hollinsclough.

As my walks usually go this one was rather short, taking a mere three hours, but it was still a delight featuring some enjoyable rocky ascents that could almost be called scrambles. I have become rather bored by the Peak District in recent years as I got used to the delights of the Lake District and Snowdonia, but this walk held a bit of the excitement that those places now hold for me. I find it difficult to find somewhere new in the Peak District to go, yesterday I succeeded. Unfortunately I fear next time I want to go walking in the Peak District I won't be so lucky.