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BBC News
3 days ago
- Climate
- BBC News
Quantock Hills ranger issues barbecue warning amid wildfire risk
A ranger has alerted people to the dangers of accidentally creating wildfires in Stevenson, a ranger for the National Landscape Team on the Quantock Hills, said there should be no barbecues or campfires on the moorland due to the fire risk. His warning comes after a section of the Quantock Hills were set on fire in April, with fire crews having to work through the night to contain the blaze. "Everything is tinder dry at the moment," Mr Stevenson said. "If something was to catch fire on the hills particularly, the whole place would probably go up to be honest." Mr Stevenson said in the past two years, approximately four or five fires have been started on the Quantock Hills by barbecues and campfires that got out of hand. The ranger said while controlled burns are carried out on the hills between December and February, they should not be confused with winter fires are set for habitat management and also work as a fire prevention service, Mr Stevenson explained."There may be patches across the hills that you may see are black and charred immediately after the winter," he added."They'll very quickly recover with a damp spring, which we haven't had this year."He said anyone who sees smoke on the Quantox between March and November should call 999. Fire and rescue services in England and Wales have responded to 856 wildfire incidents so far this year, according to the National Fire Chiefs the end of July, it said wildfire numbers were 663% higher than the same period in 2024 and 33% higher than the same period in 2022, which was then a record year for Stevenson told BBC Radio Somerset's Simon Parkin that he did not want to discourage people from walking on the hills, but urged people to be mindful of their surroundings. 'Don't take a BBQ' Ben Williams, the group commander from Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, has also asked people to enjoy the countryside safely. He said: "We've had a quite a dry hot summer and in these fine periods of weather we really encourage people to get outside."But we'd say take a picnic, don't take a barbecue."Effectively any open fire increases the risk of that spreading going out of control."It means resources have to be dragged in from right across the country."When we're dealing with those incidents which were entirely preventable, those resources are being diverted away from their primary role - maintaining a life."
BBC News
29-03-2025
- BBC News
Mendip Hills' historic importance highlighted in new report
A new report says Somerset's Mendip Hills nature reserve is of international importance due to its archaeology and more than half a million years of occupation, settlement and land State of Heritage report, produced by the South West Heritage Trust (SWHT), examines nine key periods from the Palaeolithic to the present day. Caves, particularly at Cheddar Gorge and Wookey Hole, provide some of the best evidence for early human activity in Britain with connections across Europe, according to the report - the first of its kind on the area. Bob Croft, from the SWHT, said: "Archaeology is not only the archive of the human life, but also the natural world." In the latter part of the prehistoric period, important ceremonial sites like the Priddy Circles were made, the report the Bronze Age, the landscape was dominated by round barrows. Recent studies of the early Bronze Age uncovered evidence of extreme violence and cannibalism at Charterhouse Warren Swallet, where some of the earliest evidence of the plague in Britain was also found. In the Late Iron Age, the lead mining industry began and farms, whose remains can still be seen today, were established. Mining continued into the 19th Century, but the area then reverted to farming as the main industry, with occasional military activities. Jim Hardcastle, from the National Landscape Team, said: "The area contains evidence of human activity which is of both regional and national added that the threats to the sites - such as ploughing, visitor erosion, recreational activities and the effects of climate change - remain a "significant concern"."Monitoring and protection should be highlighted as a priority," said Mr Hardcastle."This needs to run alongside making people aware of the incredible heritage value of the Mendip and involving people in its protection."
