Call for action on Valley of Rocks' goats

By khelyer

A COUPLE who have several relatives buried in Lynton's cemetery — including their young son — have finally said "enough is enough," after feral goats ate the flowers from a family burial, within a day of the funeral.

Iris Stanbury was part of a well-known farming family in Lynton and her funeral was well attended earlier this month.

But now her family are furious after the flowers laid on her grave were decimated by the Valley of Rocks goats.

Her son, Edward, and daughter-in-law, Jill, say they have put up with the destruction of wreaths for years — and say many other families also have suffered.

Edward said: "It's supposed to be a place of peace and tranquility, but those goats roam all over the place."

And a furious Jill added: "When we went for the funeral the coffin trolley had to be wheeled through goats' droppings and the mourners had to pick their way through it.

"My son is out there and at least five other family members on both sides — and we've had to resort to buying plastic flowers.

"Even when I bought fabric flowers I came back to find they'd eaten them too and just left the plastic stalks."

The couple now live in Bishops Nympton, but for many years farmed at Six Acre Farm in the Valley of Rocks, as did Edward's parents, Ted and Iris, before them.

The farm had grazing rights in the Valley and Edward recalls how the goats were managed in his time.

"Back in the 70s we used to get Ray Werner come in twice a year. He was an expert and he'd draw all the goats, marking out which ones needed to be culled and which stayed," said Edward.

"Then marksmen would come in and shoot them. That was the way they were managed, to keep a pure-bred Cheviot herd.

"Back then the Town Council accepted responsibility for them and it was agreed that the Valley could sustain a herd of 19 to 23 goats over a 12-month period. Now that's nearer 80."

He said there were some estimates of about 120 to 140 goats currently in the Valley.

"But the fence the council has put up is no good at all — it ends next to the cemetery and the goats can just trot down into it — it's completely useless."

Deputy mayor Christine Bowden said: "I can totally sympathise with them. It's an ongoing problem — and people who don't have family out there don't fully understand how it feels to find flowers trampled and eaten.

"But until the herd is reduced to a manageable number, I don't know what else we can do, short of putting up a 10ft electric fence."

She added that the goats also invaded local gardens and allotments.

The Valley of Rocks (VoR) management group, which advises the town council, were due to discuss the goats at their meeting last night.

Christine is also a partner in Lynton's florist, Exmoor Flowers, and was responsible for creating the floral tributes to Iris.

She said: "They were so pretty and included one from Iris's new baby great grandson — but Edward had to come in and pay for them, knowing they were already gone."

Town councillor and National Trust warden Julian Gurney chairs the VoR management group.

He said: "The family has every right to be furious and I hope we can find a solution to finally sort this issue out.

"There are so many stakeholders, including the cricket club, walkers, the grazier and Friends of the Goats that I don't think we'll ever reach a solution to keep everyone happy, but I hope we can find one for most of them. The council gets a lot of stick about the goats but we are genuinely trying to find an answer."

Ahead of the meeting he said: "I'm hoping that Diana Lewis from North Devon Animal Ambulance will be able to attend and offer some advice. I have a lot of admiration for the work that she does."

And on the topic of culling, which has become highly controversial in the village, he said: "It's how the deer are managed on Exmoor. It's not something unusual. I would like to see the goat numbers reduced to an acceptable level and then a rolling management programme put in place, but we will see what happens at the meeting."