I WONDER if anyone has told Devon County Council that the reason why the Tamar Valley has been given World Heritage Site status is because of the importance of the mining industry, including the relics remaining from that era. I have just walked from Magpie Bridge to Grenofen along the newly bulldozed road put in from the Magpie car park to the site of the old Grenofen viaduct, apparently to give access for the construction of a new bridge for a cycle track. The track is apparently designed to pass along the old railway track, through the disused Grenofen tunnel, across the Walkham and onwards as part of the National Cycle Network ? very laudable, but is it necessary to ruin an area which has been used by generations of locals for family days out, just to facilitate the construction of a bridge for cyclists? When the original bridge (Brunel) was demolished, Devon County Council took fanatical care to ensure no damage was done to the adjacent woodland, insisting that the demolition contractors felled all masonry inside a very strict corridor along the route of the bridge piers. I know because I was involved in ensuring this happened. Now it seems that with a few quid in their pockets they are prepared to create havoc in the interests of commercial pressures. I refer of course to the potential profits of tourism. Unfortunately, to achieve their aim they have bulldozed the very tracks, leats and the remains of a very important launder that form a major part of the historical remains of the mines of the Walkham Valley. Remains, I must point out, that formed part of the Heritage Site that is the springboard for all this develoment! Could I suggest that before any further spoilation takes place that Devon County Council do some careful research, say from the Metalliferous Mining Region of the South West Volume 2 and then plan accordingly. The tragedy of this is that there were other ways to get machinery and materials to the site without giving carte blanche to a bulldozer to take the easiest route. I am sure they will tell us that their contractors will reinstate everything after they have completed the work (unless the road is required for maintenance purposes!). Restore history and archaeology? Edwin Anstead Retired architect Priory Close Whitchurch