"Nobody can "make" land? Utter rubbish Shaw. Ever heard of "Polders"? Much of the arable land in the Netherlands was "made". Same for lots of land in East Anglia - funnily enough "made" by the same people."

Fair dues to anyone who reclaims land from the sea. Fair dues also to people who improve the land by draining it, clearing the rocks from it or who improve its soil. If you've done that you've acquired the right to cultivate it and make a living from it without interference. I've never advocated land anarchy. Making moorland fit only for growing heather for grouse cover involves severe reductions in biodiversity. The burning is extremely destructive to wildlife and adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. These activities are carried out for sport and profit, benefitting very few people and damaging the environment. If you're seriously arguing that that kind of land use justifies ramblers being barred from wandering over thousands of acres of wild places, then I'm not with you. And, though you're not wrong to point out that land can be "made," let's keep it in proportion. The amount of land made by the methods you describe is a tiny fraction of one percent of all land.

"Oh and Iains is correct YOU do not own the land, it is not yours, if it was it would have degraded and eroded years ago through lack of the knowledge required to "manage" or "husband" it."

Well, apart from the fact that any large tract of land that is claimed to be owned was usurped for private gain and the impoverishment of ordinary people by the ancestors of the current landlord, your assumption that ownership somehow imbues you with the wisdom to be a good steward of that land is highly questionable. Bad land management has caused severe silting of rivers in the Somerset Levels and led to the flooding of villages. Cultivation of maize on sloping ground, a recent agricultural fad, has led to severe soil erosion. Look it up. Hundreds of thousands of miles of hedgerows removed has led to a loss of biodiversity and a severe threat to many songbird species, as well as butterflies, bees, wildflowers and small mammals. The use of land for winter wheat and barley has severely depleted habitat for ground-nesting birds. We endured years of watching the sheer vandalism of stubble-burning until legislation put a stop to it. Artificial fertilisers, gained at the expense of huge amounts of fossil fuel energy, result in polluted waterways and soil degradation. Farmers are using neonicotinoid insecticides on a huge scale in spite of the fact that it's well known that honeybee populations are being ravaged. Farmland that could be used for growing food is instead being used to grow Miscanthus grass for biofuel, which is low-maintenance, profitable and allows lazy "farmers" to become country gentlemen. "I'm stealing this land from you because I know how to look after it and you don't". Wow. What arrogance!