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Using Juncus For Psychopathic Purposes
"Good work, keep it up." "Doing a good job." "Great job, well done." A constant procession of walkers snaked up the steep path heading to Pen y Fan, the highest peak in the Brecon Beacons, stopping only to thank a group of Oxford Conservation Volunteers for all their hard work.  Juncus & rocks - walkers beware! "They have absolutely no idea what we’re doing, do they?" I said to Jo, Chris, Matt and Inigo who were working with me alongside the path. "Not a clue," said Chris. "If only they knew we are making their life so much harder!" agreed Inigo. It was true: On the second day of our recent Brecon Beacons resi we were spending an afternoon laying uninviting hazards to discourage wayward walkers. These hazards took the form of plantations of spiky juncus plants and strange henges of jagged stones; surely nobody would want to walk over these! However, there was a valuable purpose to our anti-walker devices; Rob (the Brecon Beacons warden) instructed us to create them in order to prevent erosion beside the path. On the way down from Pen y Fan the path is very steep and hard on the knees of already-tired walkers, so many of them take the easy route by straying onto the softer grass beside the perfectly good path. The erosion of this grass is unsightly, and also could create serious drainage problems, plus be very difficult to stop once it has begun. Walkers are like animals – there is no use hoping they will keep to the expensively surfaced, well-marked, wide path, when their "line of desire" takes them somewhere they think will be more attractive, more direct, or easier. Therefore, as the BTCV handbook on footpaths says, "methods must be used to win the walker's respect for the reasons for following the designated route." These methods include creating barriers by using diversionary planting and boulders. When faced with juncus plants (which make it hard to see where you are placing your feet, and imply there is boggy ground underfoot) and a collection of rocks that are hard to step over, the prescribed path suddenly seems very attractive.  Signs of erosion by the path  "Line of desire" blocked by juncus and rocks
However, it is no use creating something that looks like a mad rock garden, as this could be ineffective and as unsightly as the erosion itself. Our path-psychology has to be far more subtle than this: The BTCV handbook advises that stones should be arranged to look "natural" with the weathered edges and lichen-sides facing upwards, as "the 'trick' appears to be to not allow doubt as to the path's route register in the walker's mind." This need to be subtle didn't necessarily register on Chris who took path-psychology to a more heightened (psycho-pathic?) level; he seemed to enjoy placing sharp rocks pointing directly upwards a little too much! Paths – they appear so innocent and it seems so natural to follow where they lead – mwaaahhahar! Next time you are walking in the countryside, consider what subtle tricks are being used to keep you on the right track. Michelle Reid |