ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the difficulties that can arise between 'the public' and heritage practitioners over the ways in which heritage is perceived, used and managed. The skateboarders attached historical, aesthetic and social values to the space and the activities but the heritage sector did not see the debate as a cultural heritage matter that there was a thing as heritage of the young. It seems that heritage management and conservation practice are at an impasse where expertise is passing old fabric to the future, even though the need for pragmatism drives many solutions, like Creets Bridge. Frustrations grew about lack of progress in finding a solution for the bridge's repair. Several of the local newspapers broke the story that a parish councillor had written to the US President, George W. Bush, to ask him to bring pressure to bear on Tony Blair and the British government in order to resolve the lack of progress and push for a widened bridge.
