Staying Green on the Straight and Narrow

摘要

On occasions the expertise of the STRI on maintaining grass cover takes us into unfamiliar territory. English Heritage, who are the Government's advisers on the historic environment, contacted STRI to discuss concerns about wear and erosion on historic sites such as Hadrian's Wall, The increased foot traffic at many sites was causing loss of grass cover with consequential erosion of underlying soil. In many places it would be visually inappropriate to construct gravel and stone paths - indeed such constructions could also have implications for any underlying archaeology in the vicinity of the path. Both organisations felt that the expertise of STRI in maintaining grass cover under high stress conditions on sports fields could be usefully carried across to the management of grass paths on historic sites.