"People don’t realise the impact": Peak District Viking goes viral after video kicking down visitors' stone stacks
A Peak District hiker has caught the attention of millions this month after his criticism of the social media trend for stacking stones in picturesque spots went viral online.
Castleton resident Stuart Cox, 57, is a chartered engineer during office hours but on days off and weekends he roams the hills as the Peak District Viking – sharing his lifelong love of the national park with the world via Facebook and YouTube content.
With one particular topic he has reached a whole new audience, after Stuart filmed himself kicking down stone stacks left by unwitting park visitors and addressing the harm they do to the landscape and its inhabitants.
He said: “I thought I could use my profile for good and try to get the message out. I did two posts, the first was just moaning and someone asked me what the problem was exactly, so I did another to explain. They’ve each been watched more than a million times on Facebook alone. It just went crazy.
“The BBC ran a story on it and it was their most viewed article that day. Then it was in all the newspapers and on Jeremy Vine’s programme. I was pretty shocked when you think of everything else going off in the world at the moment.”
The stone stacks have been an increasingly familiar sight at Peak District’s visitor hotspots like Mam Tor – popular destinations for people looking for the perfect visuals to share on Instagram or TikTok.
The growth of those apps has coincided with a post-pandemic rush to the countryside which has led longtime residents to call for action on problem behaviours and overwhelmed infrastructure.
Stuart, who is involved in the campaign group Concerned for Castleton, said: “Some of these issues are just common sense – disposable barbecues, parking, litter – and a lot of people are numb to any complaints about those. This struck a different chord.
“With the stone stacking I think people don’t realise the impact. They build it, take a picture and leave it. Then someone else comes along, sees the stack and follows suit by building their own.
“You used to see stacks like this on beaches in the past but not many other places. Now it’s a worldwide problem. In Bermuda they’re trying to ban it because it’s destroying a rare lizard’s habitat. There are beaches in Iceland where there are thousands of these things.”
While there is no shortage of stones lying around the Peak District, many of them serve a purpose which might not be immediately obvious to a casual observer.
Stuart said: “It’s got so bad that the National Trust has dismantled one of its walls near to Mam Tor, removed the stones and just left the foundations there. These drystone walls are 400-year-old works of art.
“Others are part of an ancient monument, they serve as a wildlife habitat, a field boundary, some mark the edge of paths to prevent erosion and some are from navigational cairns. If you build another stack nearby it will be no good to people who are lost.”
He added: “Some of these stacks are quite high, unstable, and there’s a real risk they could collapse on top of children or dogs.
“I bumped into a couple of guys who built one six-feet tall, so I went and pushed it over. There was a bit of a confrontation but when I explained, they said ‘That’s fair enough, we didn’t have a clue.”
Both the Peak District National Park Authority and the National Trust, which manages land around Mam Tor, have expressed similar concerns, as the phenomenon undermines painstaking efforts to protect the landscape.
A spokesperson for the trust said: "Sadly, the stone stacks are not only impacting the history of the site, but they are also affecting the natural habitats of wildlife that live and feed within these ancient walls. In the longer-term, it will disrupt the delicate balance of the landscape."
Anna Badcock, cultural heritage manager at PDNPA, added: “Stone stacks are created by stone removed from historic features. They are very detrimental to the historic environment which we have a statutory duty to conserve.”
If his intent is purely educational, Stuart’s blunt approach, occasional swearing and appetite for destruction has inspired a typically polarised reaction on social media.
He said: “If I hadn’t done it the way I did, it probably wouldn’t have changed anything. Loads of people have agreed with the idea that they should leave no trace when visiting a place like this. Others have said, ‘What’s the harm, don’t tell me what to do, who made you high sheriff?’
“Then there’s a third group who have said, ‘We didn’t realise,’ and hopefully that will change their behaviour. I’m surprised its had such a big effect, but pleased in that sense.”
He added: “I’ve been contacted by some drystone wallers volunteering to rebuild some of these structures too, but the problem is they might just be dismantled again in a couple of weeks.
“I’ve reached out to the landowners to see what we can do. I’m hoping we might be able to put up some signs in car parks. The main thing is getting visitors to take some personal responsibility.
“We’ve got a bit of a cairn-kicking club now, with other hikers and residents knocking them down whenever they find them. Maybe the fewer stacks people see, the fewer new ones will get built.”
To follow more of Stuart’s work and walks around the national park, go to facebook.com/thepeakdistrictviking or youtube.com/@thepeakdistrictviking.