Stacks of fun and a calming hobby – or a blot on the beachscape?
ENVIRONMENTALISTS have provoked ridicule online after demanding curbs on the growing number of beach-goers who enjoy the pastime of stacking rocks.
The Blue Planet Society, an activist group, was accused of giving conservation a “bad name” by claiming the hobby had reached “epidemic proportions” and ruined beauty spots.
Stone-stacking is an increasingly popular pastime and campaigners said the trend had grown rapidly through “increased tourism and social media”, adding that the “sheer number” of stacks posed “very real concern for wildlife”.
James Craig Page, an artist from Dunbar, East Lothian, who organises the European Stone-stacking Championships, said the process was meditative and helped children with ADHD.
He dismissed the criticism as “a little bit over the top”, suggesting activists had picked on people who “love nature and encourage people to look after nature”.
Jules Howard, a zoologist and author, also waded into the debate online, writing: “This level of panic about something so small gives conservation (and conservationists) a bad name.”
Stone-stacking enthusiasts espouse the calming qualities of the pastime, saying it helps focus the mind away from the hubbub of daily life. Also known as cairn building, the practice can yield eye-catching results when awkwardly shaped rocks are arranged in a way that appears to defy gravity. As with any modern craze that boasts aesthetic value, stone-stacking has been brought, inevitably, to the masses through social media – with the best efforts earning thousands of likes on Instagram.
Craig Page, 50, described how teachers in Dunbar noticed a difference “immediately” when children with ADHD began practising the skill.
He insisted he followed a “leave no trace” policy by clearing away signs of his work before leaving the beach. The Blue Planet Society wrote on Twitter: “We can’t think of anything less meditative than interfering with nature, and spoiling the scenery for others.”
But others were quick to defend the hobby. Gareth Adkins wrote on Twitter: “This is farcical. In Orkney these rock stacks will be gone after the winter storms. Get a grip.” Another user wrote: “The amount of plastic, rubbish and waste that’s dumped on beaches every year and you’re worried about stacking rocks?”