UN threatens to act against Britain for failure to protect heritage sites

by Paul Conneally | September 8, 2008 at 11:10 am
895 views | 9 Recommendations | 34 comments

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Stonehenge

Stonehenge

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Think of Britain and you think of 'heritage'. Much of its tourism is based on Olde England and the glories of British architecture so its shocking to find that the UN and some British experts believe that the UK is not doing enough to protect important sites such as Stonehenge and the Tower of London.

The UN is threatening to put the Tower of London on its list of world heritage sites in danger after its experts accused the UK of damaging globally significant sites such as Stonehenge, the old town of Edinburgh and the Georgian centre of Bath, the Guardian has learned.

Unesco, the UN's cultural agency, has told ministers in London and Edinburgh that it wants urgent action to protect seven world heritage sites which it claims are in danger from building developments, and said in some cases the UK is ignoring its legal obligations to protect them.

Their complaints range from decisions to approve new tower blocks in central London, such as the 66-storey "shard of glass" at London Bridge, to the failure to relocate the A344 beside Stonehenge despite promising action for 22 years, to a proposed wind farm which threatens neolithic sites on Orkney.

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Beaulieu
Beaulieu
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 00:49 on September 9th, 2008

In parts of London, skyscrapers and ugly office buildings hide the beauty of some old churches too. In Greenwich, for example, the wonderful view painted by famous artists in times long gone, now have ruined by the skyscrapers.

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Beaulieu

Good Stuff. LotusFlower. This is a very important story. 

The 66 storey Tower Block will be horrendous. I went to London Bridge Station and saw a poster of the Tower Block and 'how wonderful it will be for the commuters, tourists and residents'.

In fact, it will be probably be one of the worst things to happen to London.

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Mirek Szymanski

Stonehenge Memorial in Maryhill, WA, USA - the first monument built in the United States in honor of those killed in the first World War. Dedicated in 1918, completed in 1930.

© Mirek Szymanski, 2008

Mirek Szymanski has contributed a photo to this story.

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Azzzya



Azzzya has contributed a photo to this story.

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Silvietta

Silvia Ferretti, 2008 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/silvietta85/

Silvietta has contributed a photo to this story.

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Chris Flack

Stonehenge is iconic.

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Bruane

Thank you for SET in this image, it is important for me because it is a mystery. It belongs to the heritage of Great Britain, but unfortunately I saw too much merchandising, on it. I must say also that I saw banners calling for peaceful as such a heritage that belongs to the country. A Bard / druid towards permanent site in place. Greetings

Bruane has contributed a photo to this story.

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ultimate_fish

My personal view on this, as a UK resident, is that often things that should be protected and cared for are not. However excessive and over zealous rules make life in and around ancient buildings very difficult. There needs to be a pragmatic view. For example almost every Dean of a major cathedral over the years has made their mark on the building. Now you can't touch a thing. The last thing Britain needs is to be frozen in time.

ultimate_fish has contributed a photo to this story.

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Life of Bridey

Life of Bridey has contributed a photo to this story.

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oneoftwelve

Stonehenge is now roped off from access, and thousands of tourists go around it on a path. Getting a shot without lots of tourist heads bobbing about was quite difficult. When I was a child, Stonehenge was open to access. It now has a large car park, a gift shop, ice cream stall and security guards. Most of the people visiting seem to be confused looking tourists from outside the UK, who arrive by coach and have little idea why they are there. In other words, the tourist industry has significantly increased the traffic over this monument.

oneoftwelve has contributed a photo to this story.

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adarshr

Thanks for inviting me to post this photo! Stonehenge is a great historic monument. One aspect of the place I thoroughly disliked when I visited it recently is the fact that they are doing some excavation and they have covered a considerably large area in fluorescent orange net! This not only distracts the serenity of the place, it makes it less photogenic also.

The fact that it's too commercialized these days and that the ticketing counters are positioned too near the monument, not to mention the roping, are few more aspects to be noted.

Find this and my other photos at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adarshr

adarshr has contributed a photo to this story.

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kpriceWicked

 

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elhiggo

http://www.rnr.de

elhiggo has contributed a photo to this story.

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Petal Press

When we arrived we were greeted by a lightening bolt, hail, and snow. Incredible. Try the rock cake. The Smithsonian Institute was conducting research on the grounds the day we were there.

Petal Press has contributed a photo to this story.

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manulele

make you the offer for my photo. Next day I will pubblish many photo of London and my tour to Oxford, Stonehenge and Windsor, so you come back and check it.

manulele has contributed a photo to this story.

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geeezzz

Those 3 photos  of mine were taken by me taken on July 25th, 2008.
It's a great and magical place. The energy is enormous. I even cried sitting there and looking at them. It should definitely be preserved with more effort. 
geeezzz has contributed a photo to this story.

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Iz Ayunie

Certainly a world heritage to be conserved!

Iz Ayunie has contributed a photo to this story.

Heritage
Heritage
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 09:33 on September 10th, 2008

LotusFlower, I like this story. It's good stuff.

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suzyesue

I grow up in a small island dated only from the 15th century and unfortunately we don't get to see these amazing sites. We learn about them from our family and friends or at school and they always describe it so well, making us feel that these are legendary places and we grow dreaming of one day be able to visit them.
I feel so privileged to be able to come to England and see so much history, it is such an achievement, all those places I once pictured on my mind, here they are, it's almost unbelievable!!!
I hope these are well protected so I can bring my grand- children one day and they can feel this happiness I do when I visit these places.
Suzyesue

suzyesue has contributed a photo to this story.

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peterpab15

I loved London. The two weeks I spent there were incredible. I hope anyone who loves the UK gets the chance to spend time there.

peterpab15 has contributed a photo to this story.

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J Schlatter

This photo was taken in May of 2004.

J Schlatter has contributed a photo to this story.

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Nachema

This photo was taken on August 30, 2008.

Nachema has contributed a photo to this story.

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Luciano Guelfi

Luciano Guelfi has contributed a photo to this story.

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davidortez

Thanks for using my image and I hope you are successful with your cause.

davidortez has contributed a photo to this story.

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foti no

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotisloth/

i love london. :)

foti no has contributed a photo to this story.

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darlingtondoll

It was a beautiful and sunny day on the Salisbury Plain when I took this photo at Stonehenge. The Heritage Sites need to be carefully preserved if future generations are to have access to these treasures of British culture.

Jane Lavallee Kenn

darlingtondoll has contributed a photo to this story.

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georgewashington42

A WWI memorial at Mary Hill, WA, USA based on the original Stone Henge in England. A couple other photos at the site can be seen on Flickr. The Plaque-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74856199@N00/2837680046/sizes/o/

View from the inside-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74856199@N00/2837685808/sizes/o/in/photostream/

Stone Henge (WWI war memorial) at Mary Hill, WA-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74856199@N00/2837688148/sizes/o/in/photostream/

The inscription on the plague is a little hard to read so here it is in a better format:
STONE HENGE

The structure before you is fhe first monument in our nation to military personnel who gave their lives in World War I. Memorializing 13 young Klickitat County men, it also serves as lasting reminder of the works of Samuel Hll, patron of this region. He established a townsite here, with postoffice, hotel, general store, nearly 10 miles of experimental paved roads, and the Maryhill Museum three miles to the west—all on his
own land. His tomb is 50 yards distant, on the opposite side of this monument.
The design duplicates in size and original form England's famous Stonehenge (dated 1900-1350 B.C.)
on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. When Hill, a Quaker pacifist, visited England during the 1914-18 conflict, saw Stonehenge and was told it had been used for human sacrifices to pagan gods he remarked: "After all our civilization, the flower of humanity still is being sacrificed to the god of war on fields of battle" From that
inspiration came this monument, built by Hill. On July 4, 1918 the altar stone was dedicated. The full structure was completed and dedicated May 30, 1929.
Today the sacrifice legend is generally discredited. Current belief is that Stonehenge was a device used by stone- age astronomers to measure time and mark seasons of the year by observing positions of the sun and moon. The diagram at left suggests how the original may have been used by its ingenious builders.

Thank you for your interest, George Wesley, USA

georgewashington42 has contributed a photo to this story.

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Rokurosama

I just took a photo. I loved Big Ben and when I saw it in front of me, I'm afraid my hands just moved to the camera and pushed that boton.

Rokurosama has contributed a photo to this story.

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famellens

As an amateur photographer I am pleased to see one of my pictures is chosen to be published.
Contribution to enhance my hobby is highly appreciated and depending on how many copies of the publication are released please do me a suggestion for an appropriate cfredit.

Also appreciate to receive a copy of the publication my photo is being used in (or is it only being used on the internet?).

Do have higher resolution so let me know when required.

Regards
Ron Ellens

famellens has contributed a photo to this story.

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Melissa Rogers

For me the saddest part about Stonehenge was the fact it was so incredibly close to a road that forks around it. Such an unparalleled wonder...it is hard to think of passing it on a daily commute.

Melissa Rogers has contributed a photo to this story.

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