Peak District: Hiker goes viral for knocking down dozens of stone stacks to prevent damage to wildlife and countryside

Hiker, Stuart Cox, 57, has gone viral for dismantling dozens of stone stacks in the Peak District to prevent damage to wildlife and to uphold The Countryside Code.

He spends most of his spare time on walks in the Derbyshire National Park but fears standards have gone down among fellow visitors.

Mr Cox said that walls are often hundreds of years old, and that removing stones from them creates a problem for a number of reasons.

The chartered engineer from the village of Castleton, Derbyshire, said: “It looks innocent, but when you start moving them and removing them, you’re destroying the habitats of insects, amphibians, reptiles and even small mammals.

“Plenty of birds nest in the walls, and live and breed in there, so it’s an environmental issue affecting wildlife.

“But there are also cairns, which are used to mark trails or important locations like mounds, that are thousands of years old, and they’re being eroded by people taking the rocks or stones to make stacks.

“I was always taught as a child that, if you go somewhere, you should leave it as you found it, or potentially leave it in a better position, by picking up some litter and taking it home, for example.

“I think it’s part of a wider issue. I’m quite sure the people who stack these stones are probably the same people who park irresponsibly, that dump dog poo bags everywhere and leave litter in the countryside before going back home.”

He posts videos regularly from his hikes on his YouTube account and other social media platforms, called The Peak District Viking.

One of his videos of him knocking over the stacks with his feet went viral on Facebook and TikTok, evoking a debate in the comments.

He described a mixed reaction to the clips, with three main types of responses.

“It fell into three different camps for me. You’ve got people who were right on my side, telling me they agreed and that they do the same thing,” he said.

“A second group was critical, and they were essentially saying that they’ll do what they want, when they want, where I want.

“And then the more important group was a few who were unaware that it was wrong, and they said that next time they go out, they won’t build them, if they see any, they’ll restore them back to their natural state.

“That was the main idea of the videos, to encourage some sort of education, because a lot of people aren’t taught The Countryside Code in school or other places any more.

“But it’s gotten worse since the pandemic, undoubtedly. I think it’s because more people have realised what’s on their doorstep, when they couldn’t go abroad and had to opt for the whole staycation type of holiday.”

Mr Cox said he has seen stacks of stones as tall as 6ft, which he has knocked down, as he believes it could be damaging to young roamers or wildlife.

When he dismantled one stack, he was challenged by a passer-by.

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When he explained why, Mr Cox said the fellow hiker realised the impact the tall pile of stones could have and agreed with him.

“It’s not just an issue in the Peak District, it’s in other National Parks across the UK, but also abroad too,” he said.

“Iceland’s quite bad for it, and Bermuda has got a real problem with it – they’re trying to ban it because it’s such a problem on beaches and elsewhere on the island.”

Mr Cox said the National Trust had to raze a wall down to its foundations at Mam Tor, a late Bronze Age and early Iron Age fort, because of the issue.

“Signs need to be put up to raise awareness, we need to educate people, and social media is a good way to do it,” he said.

“We should reintroduce some of this stuff into schools. You don’t tend to hear about it these days in education, but back in the 70s and 80s when I was at school, that’s exactly what was taught.”

The Countryside Code states: “We all have a responsibility to protect our countryside and open spaces for current and future generations.

“Do not cause damage or disturbance. Leave rocks, stone, plants and trees as you find them and take care not to disturb wildlife including birds that nest on the ground.

“Do not disturb ruins or historic sites – our heritage in the natural and built environment is important.”