MORE than 200 people took part in a protest at Vixen Tor on Dartmoor on Sunday to show their continued frustration at the site being closed to the public. Climbers, hill walkers, ramblers and mountaineers all gathered at the beauty spot, which has been closed off since 2003 when the present owner Mary Alford bought the site. The protest was the first one organised by the Ramblers' Association which has applied to Devon County Council to get the site officially documented as a public right of way. Prior to 2003 the site was frequently used by walkers even though it is private land, the ramblers claim. National chairman of the Ramblers' Association Kate Ashbrook said she was delighted with the turnout on Sunday. 'It was very peaceful — nobody trespassed, they just looked longingly over the wall,' she said. 'It is not just ramblers who care but hill walkers and mountaineers and many local people who used to go in there. 'The rocks are special to climbers because they are very challenging but there is also an enclave with trees and bushes and wonderful views and it is a nice place to go with children. 'It is very peaceful and I heard my first cuckoo of the year there on Sunday.' The association together with the British Mountaineering Council has made the application to the county council for four footpaths on the site: 'We are basing this application purely on evidence of its use over the past 20 years,' said Kate Ashbrook. 'There are already footpaths on the site and we believe they should be shown on the official maps of rights of way.' Other protests have been organised over the past five years by the Vixen Tor Access Group, members of whom were present on Sunday. Jim Harrison from the group, who has been gathering evidence to help the ramblers' case, said he had spoken to people in their 60s and 70s whose parents had taken them to Vixen Tor when they were children. 'People have been going there for decades with their families and there was never any trouble until Mrs Alford closed it,' he said. 'We are just asking her to be reasonable.' Landowner Mary Alford said Vixon Tor was a traditional Dartmoor working farm and if public access was allowed the business would come second to people's pleasure and would be affected. 'Anyone who has a garden or a farm should have concerns over Kate Ashbrook's demands for private land to have public access,' she said. 'Only last Sunday a woman was trampled to death in Suffolk whilst walking her dog across a working farm. 'Kate Ashbrook and the ramblers' attitude is disrespectful to individual owners' rights and businesses.' She said that in the past access was permissive through an agreement between the previous owner and the Dartmoor National Park Authority: 'Perhaps this is where people have misunderstood,' she said. 'That access did not give a legal right of access and no rights of way exist across this land.'