No they didn't, the mess was reconstructed. There were a few 'online videos' of fording which hardly looked stupid and may have even been a ford on the proper Byway.
Seems to me it's more sensationalist 'reporting' looking for stuff to fill rather than actually having a problem that could have been quite easily solved. (My opinion, for what that's worth)
Having said that, I do believe there may be an issue with off-piste activities, especially on sites like this with archaeological interests, it just seemed to be far more sparse (over 20 years!) than was being made out. Not condoning it at all, but as I say above, it seems like a much more minor problem than was being reported that could have been stopped years ago .. why have a problem for 20 years and not solve it until now?
