A climber who attended the Vixen Tor ‘open day’ on 30 July has informed the BMC of the unreasonable way in which he was made to leave the land at the end of the day by the landowner and heavy-handed security.

The two climbers had not been advised on entry that the open day was to end at 4pm and were halfway through a climb just before 4pm when the landowner, Mrs Alford, instructed security to get them off her land. The climbers were expected to descend with just 5 minutes notice. Mrs Alford was also overheard asking security guards if they could pull the climber down from the route, however the climber was too high to be reached and this was not attempted.

The climbers were apologetic that they had overrun and left as quickly as was safe to do so but this necessitated leaving some gear in place. They were upset by the aggressive manner in which they were treated in order to speed up their departure.

The climbers had paid £10 each to climb during the open day – the money went to charity.  About 25 people attended the event, with others choosing to stay away on principle of not wishing to pay for access to the land. There was a protest on the boundary wall by members of the Ramblers Association and some locals.

The event was organised by Channel 5 TV in conjunction with landowner Mrs Alford. Channel 5 filmed the day for their series on mediation, but the incident at the end of the day was not captured on film. The programme is due to be broadcast in September.

« Back