It is not only on the LDWA 100 that the vandals have been out painting , I was walking around Arnside Silverdale area last Friday and shortly after leaving Fairy Steps when I was met with very large bright pink painted arrows , on the grass , gates and trees , it was horrific , and it lasted for about 1 mile before going on a different route to the one I was going. I only wish I could have found out who had done it to notify the land owner .

Mr Gould , as you are so concerned with grammar perhaps you should check you own posting (yes you are posting not writing).
"May be a criminal offence" is not a claim , merely an observation , therefore there does not appear to be a need "to cite the relevant law".
As for the Matilda (Belloc) reference I feel you would benefit from reading Norman Rose's book on Belloc , "The Cliveden Set" (excellent grammar).This may prevent any other unfortunate inappropriate comparisons by yourself.

As for your views , I have to assume you were not trying to initiate a debate , as your tone clearly indicates you do not want a debate.Therefore I assume you are venting your anger.I think there are plenty of help groups out there who could help with your anger issues.
The L.D.W.A. has to take a stand it feels approproate in order to maintain good working relationships with landowners.If you as a member disagree strongly with their views you have 3 options,
1) Stand for election to one of the appropriate L.D.W.A. positions.
2) Suffer in silence
3) Leave an organisation that "irritates" you so much.
bryan

Since this has rattled your cage so violently Allen with 2 'l's do you know the person who painted the yellow blobs?just reccied the 100...and saw the yellow blobs but they seem to be situated where the route is obvious??what a waste of paint...

It doesn't seem sanctimonious or moralistic, and certainly not clap-trap, to me. For what it's worth, this is the comment I made on the LDWA's Facebook page before seeing this:

As a runner myself, I hate to say this but I suspect this is part of a small but nonetheless indefensible trend towards the non-temporary marking of routes where the need for self-navigation would otherwise slow people down. Few people are going to complain about the use of chalk, flour or other temporary markings that are in place only for a short period of time. But increasingly I come across painted directions, stickers and so on that are semi-permanent and can be a real blot on a rural landscape. That's in addition to my personal bugbear - the used gel wrappers and plastic water bottles that a minority of runners simply drop as they use them. Since both the markings and the litter are a result of people wanting to get faster times, I'd like to see time penalties (or in repeated or serious cases disqualification) imposed on those responsible. I know this doesn't solve the problem in LDWA events, which aren't supposed to be races, so I guess it's a more a matter of educating people why this sort of thing isn't acceptable.

Allan

As you are a long standing LDWA member you will have realised how passionate many of the members are about the annual 100. for a lot of them it is the highlight of their walking year. Putting together an event like this takes a lot of effort negotiating with land owners and emphasising that the disruption will be kept to a minimum. For (we presume) entrants to then mark the route with paint (and as stated causing damage to stones of archaeological significance) jeopardises the hard earned reputation of the LDWA built up over 40 years.

John Sparshatt would have not emailed the membership with his proposed course of action without checking what action he could take and who has the responsibility for the paths the route will use.

Allan

Certainly a ‘large head of steam’ being built up somewhere.

You’re taking umbrage because the Chair emails the members of the LDWA to point out vandalism which threatens the good name of the LDWA and possible future access to walking areas?

Grammar: this is serious enough to include in your posting?

You find it presumptuous, offensive, ‘irritating’ that the Hundred organisers say they will disqualify the culprits and publicise their names?

Yes, the plot has been lost but not by the LDWA Chair and the organising group.

Elton

Who are you with your criticism of grammar, are you defending the vandals? And your name, Allan? what kind of spelling is that? Two many "l's" surely

Ok, I'm irritated enough to be bothered to write, which involves being bothered to find/re-issue a login password.

Sanctimonious moralistic clap-trap handed down from the LDWA

I'm not sure I like being addressed (as per e-mail from LDWA Chair) like a bunch of naughty schoolboys with empty threats and kangaroo courts. I didn't join the LWDA to be lectured by high-handed e-mail.

E-mail from Chair:
http://www.ldwa.org.uk/emails/view_email.php?id=aaa5ab6b0161b7cde2633f908ae36b44
“This is vandalism, may be a criminal offence”: please could you cite the relevant law being broken before making such claims
“Should the perpetrator(s)be found serious action will be taken. ”: I'd terrified: what's the worst the LDWA can do? Eject from membership? I'm equally frightened. Empty threats, Matilda (pace Belloc)
“There seems to be a pattern occurring … to presumably help”: Yes, a serious problem of split infinitives. Go to the bottom of the grammar class, lad.


News posting on website:
http://www.ldwa.org.uk/news/news_story.php?news_id=427
“If the group can establish who is responsible for this they will be disqualified from the event, and their name(s) will be publicised. ”. Since when was “the group” a court, and I do hope the group has deep pockets to defend legal action against libel if they can't prove the claims re the publicised names beyond reasonable doubt.

LDWA: you've lost the plot!
Sounds to me like a large head of steam has built up within a small bunch of self-important self-interested self-righteous busy bodies.
If there is a problem, it's the Highways Authority that should be regulating this (who have responsibility for Rights of Way), not the LDWA.
If there is a problem with paint-marking so be it, but the LDWA, from the chair down, has shot itself in the foot and is going the wrong way about circulating the issue.