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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think leaving your tat in the woods isn't 'magical'?

149 replies

OpiningGambit · 13/08/2018 23:45

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45168316

Looking at some of these 'fairy doors' - they're not even good! I've seen beautiful ones hidden away before, and actually quite liked them, but this is just leaving your kids toys in the woods, surely?

Or am I a mean old lady?

OP posts:

RoseWhiteTips · 14/08/2018 14:21

It’s tacky. Stop it now.

LeftRightCentre · 14/08/2018 14:21

*My DC love Secret Stones. The amount of joy they get when they find one on a day out is wonderful (and we always rehide them for others, of course).

Why would you want to stop that? If you don't like them, don't paint them and ignore them if you find one. Why would you be bothered by then?*

Because it's fucking litter! It's stupid and unnecessary. Where is the fun in littering natural spaces?

Thisnamechanger · 14/08/2018 14:29

Ribbons tied in trees scares the shit out of me since I watched a Vice documentary about the suicide forest in Japan.

But yes, agree with PP. woods are lovely (dark and deep) on their own. Simply no need to 'decorate' with man-made shit.

LeighaJ · 14/08/2018 14:38

@tararabumdeay

While it's unfortunate that the forest where you grew up was filled with paedophiles...you've still failed to make any relevant points.

Surely the site of a plastic tat shrine would be almost like a big flashing sign to paedophiles that kids frequent an area.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 14/08/2018 15:39

Fine to make them but not fine to leave them - when you're done with them, they're litter - take them HOME and dispose of them there. It's dangerous to wildlife and an incitement to litter further.

No exceptions, no excuses. Forests don't need 'adornment' with this stuff.

Original poster

OpiningGambit · 14/08/2018 17:53

I have to say I think painting rocks and leaving them in a natural environment is now as bad, but still bad. I would no more want to see a painted rock than graffiti tags on a tree.

Again this arrogance of humans thinking they're improving nature, and have the right to do whatever we like!

OP posts:

Guienne · 14/08/2018 17:56

Someone is quoted as saying “they add a bit of magic to the woods”.

I wish they'd explain what is magic about grubby bits of plastic.

I was on holiday recently in an area where there's a beach where lots of stone-balancing goes on. The people responsible have a sign up inviting donations for their work, and apparently get quite aggressive if anyone else tries to join in. Rumour had it that glue was involved.

TSSDNCOP · 14/08/2018 18:00

Was the glue to facilitate the art creation or stick it together?

ScreamingValenta · 14/08/2018 18:02

If I call a crisp packet a fairy sleeping bag, does that mean it’s not litter?

Larfed at that .

But seriously, if people want to improve our natural surroundings, the effort spent on these would be far better used by having a litter pick

ChardonnaysPrettySister · 14/08/2018 18:12

I'm getting really pissed off with this highjacking of the word magic.

Plastic tat in the forest is magic, wedding days are magic, a day out with the children is magic. Where did this come from?

XingMing · 14/08/2018 20:25

In a place where my dog gets walked periodically, there is a very nice stone wall, and people have inserted tiny toys in to the crevices on one side, and unloved china figures the other side of the gate. So it's the Little Wall of China. It's not an eyesore on a small village scale; it's rather sweet, but I'd hate it if it were more prominent.

Processedpea · 14/08/2018 20:40

They damage trees :(

Guienne · 14/08/2018 23:16

TSSD, the glue is to facilitate the seemingly miraculous balancing of stones on top of each other.

elephantoverthehill · 14/08/2018 23:21

I've got it completely wrong about this stone balancing thing then. I thought pp were referring to cairns, which are quite useful but I have seen signs in Snowdonia dissuading people adding to them.

ErrolTheDragon · 14/08/2018 23:31

The only 'stone balancing' I've seen is the odd modest stack on a beach where it's not going to last long - I wouldn't see that as much different to kids making impermanent 'art' on beaches with stones, sand, seaweed etc

If people are randomly building new cairns on hillsides other than where the OS map says there are cairns that could be a serious problem if mistaken for a path marker in fog.

StoneofDestiny · 14/08/2018 23:44

Ghastly, grim and gaudy.
Take your litter home.

BarbarianMum · 15/08/2018 08:36

I would seriously hope any hill walker had a good map and a compass and was not solely reliant on the positioning of cairns to find their way down in fog. Whatever happened to walking on a bearing and knowing the length of your stride?

MaisyPops · 15/08/2018 08:44

BarbarianMum
You wouldn't rely entirely on carbs, but they are there to help mark the way so people making new ones that aren't on the map are being silly.
The way I think about it, my navigation is probably good enough to mange without cairns (though I do use them along with other features to navigate), but it wasn't when I started. Everyone has to start somewhere. Stacking rocks and making new cairns is actively changing the landscape and making it harder for beginners to navigate.

How hard can it be for people to just enjoy nature without changing it because they want a photo of some new trend of theirs?

ErrolTheDragon · 15/08/2018 09:10

You would hope that, barbarianmum - unfortunately, hills such as the Lake District are accessible to people who stroll up with trainers and a mobile phone.

MaisyPops · 15/08/2018 10:09

ErrolTheDragon
Just don't... last time I went to the Lakes there were people in Converse, jeans, fashion clothing that would be horrible when wet and doesn't really give enough movement, rucksack (so I assume no spare food, no emergency layer, no waterproofs, no map), going down some of the ridges in ways thay if they slipped they'd really hurt their lower back.
I can't tell whether they were wallies or totally idiotic and irresponsible (and the sort of people who'd call mountain rescue because they tried to climb a peak in the snow without any technical equipment and got lost).

Saggital · 15/08/2018 10:23

It's litter pure and simple

SurfnTerfFantasticmissfoxy · 15/08/2018 10:39

When this craze started, the doors and trinkets were made of natural materials found in the woods and therefor looked as though the 'fairies' had made them out of what they found. If people did this and tucked them away so coming across them was a real surprise it could be lovely - glitter, fairy lights and bloody plastic windmills are not magically just tacky and horrid. We have an area of woodland and thankfully don't have any of this stuff but we do get teenagers / local kids buildings dens. I don't mind this at all as long as they don't damage the woods or pull down branches but if they build structures with plastic or tarps etc I do remove them.

BuntyII · 15/08/2018 10:42

I saw someone talking about decluttering yesterday saying they took their kids to the park and hid their unwanted soft toys all around it for other kids to find. I'd be raging if DS found somebodies manky old soft toy and you know your kids would insist on keeping it despite having 50,000 teddies at home already

SurfnTerfFantasticmissfoxy · 15/08/2018 10:47

I can't get upset about rock stacking though (as long as they're not glued) they'll fall over or get pushed over before too long.

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