Motorbikes & The Moor
Want to know why kids can't ride their bikes on the Moor? Why there are no football pitches on it? Why you shouldn't throw rubbish there? Why we even have a Moor?
Children's Express members did and went along to interview Len Fenwick, chairman of the Freemen of the City whose job it is to see that the Moor "continues as you see it today".
That involves the cows. "The cows come first," says Len Fenwick, and it's been that way since the 12th century. Without the cows there wouldn't be a Town Moor.
In law the cows have the first right to be there, he argues. For that, you need grazing land for them to have a feed from. That land is the Moor and we (the public) are allowed to use it as long as we don't damage it for the cows. If the cow's feeding space goes then so does the cow and so does the Moor.
"If we don't have the cows we'd lose the rights of the Town Moor and the Town Moor would be developed."
So it's important that motorbikes aren't on the Moor. "We're tough on motorcycling because it is in conflict with the cows being able to graze. Cows and motorcycles don't go together. You get pollution and noise."
He points out that 43 different types of bird live on the Moor. There are Highland Cattle in the middle of the city. "You can't go to any other city in this country and see that," he says. "People take the Moor for granted."
So does that mean that kids aren't allowed any facilities on the Moor? Len Fenwick raises a glimpse of hope, saying there's a strip of land at the edge of the Moor between Cowgate and Montagu "coming up."
He urges Children's Express members to "get on to the councillors. Ask questions and say 'hey, what can we do to start to bring some improvements in this area for the benefit of the local community. He hits too that permission could be given for "additional amenities and parkland-type facilities".
As CE news team member. Gemma Graham, 12, says "That's what the Moor's there for, for the cows." However, ... there might just be a little space for humans too.
About the team
This article was prepared by Children's Express Newcastle: Editors Colin McGiven. 16, and Amy Wood, 15, and Reporters Gemma Graham and Gemma McFadyen, both 12. It was published in The Cowgate Connection in Newcastle upon Tyne.
