Latest news with #moorland
The Guardian
4 days ago
- The Guardian
Country diary: This hardy survivor is brightening up the moors
From high on the Allendale moors, I can see right to the Scottish border and the soft blue outline of the Cheviot Hills. Below me, the West Allen Valley holds deeper colours, the land green and bounded with stone walls or dotted with small woods. Shadows thrown by the early evening light pick out every feature: streams, cleughs, barns and farms, mining spoil and ruins – a record of the land. The wind is warm, buffeting the cottongrass that stretches across the boggy ground and along the roadside ditch. It's a boom year for this beautiful plant, perhaps due to the dry spring putting the plants under stress. A sedge rather than a grass, Eriophorum angustifolium flourishes in its harsh moorland environment, sending out underground rhizomes where few other plants will grow; a line of snow poles shows what the winters are like. The plant's ability to survive here gives it the alternative name of bog cotton. Today, the wind sets every fluffy seedhead in bobbing motion, dancing with light like the choppy scintillations of waves. The discreet greenish flowers could be easily missed. It's those downy cottonwool plumes that enable wind dispersal that have been used to stuff pillows and make candle wicks, and dress wounds during the first world war. Plug plants of cottongrass are being planted by the North Pennines National Landscape to restore degraded blanket bog. Binding the surface of the peat together with their wandering roots, they prevent further erosion. In other benefits, the female black grouse that I occasionally see up here feed on the flower heads, giving them a source of protein and energy before laying eggs in spring. The larvae of large heath butterflies feed on a similar species, the hare's tail cottongrass Eriophorum vaginatum. For a brief time, the moor is transformed in white and I come up here to revel in the spectacle and feel the peace. Swallows swoop to pick up insects off the road. A hare lopes through the tussocks as a lark delivers a stream of notes above. Then a curlew lifts off, beats its wings before gliding, its ecstatic bubbling song ending in a drawn-out plaintive note. Under the Changing Skies: The Best of the Guardian's Country Diary, 2018-2024 is published by Guardian Faber; order at and get a 15% discount
The Guardian
23-05-2025
- The Guardian
Blissful isolation: wild camping on Dartmoor to celebrate a protected right
Gentle bird song and the soothing gurgle of water flowing over boulders wake me at dawn. The spring sun is not visible yet, but its pale-yellow light is catching the tops of the steep, tussock-clad valley where I spent the night. I am completely alone; it's just me and my thoughts. These are the kinds of moments of peace and blissful contentment in nature that cannot be commodified and have been under threat since the owner of the land where I pitched my tent launched a legal case two years ago to curtail the right for the public to backpack camp on Dartmoor. Alexander Darwall, a multimillionaire hedge fund manager, and his wife, Diana Darwall, claimed that wild camping was hindering their conservation efforts and putting their cattle at risk on their 1,619-hectare (4,000-acre) estate on the southern edges of the moor. But this week, the supreme court rejected Darwall's lawyers' argument that the act giving the public access to the moor for 'open air recreation' only referred to walking and horse riding. The three judges ruled that recreation should be understood far more widely, including wild camping. This landmark ruling means Dartmoor remains the only place in England where it is legal to wild camp without a landowner's permission. I passed the Darwalls' grand home – Blachford Manor – on the tough three-hour walk up on to the moor. Through a thick hawthorn hedge and barbed wire fence, I caught fleeting glimpses of the couple's shimmering fish pond and extensive deer park. But I didn't need to knock on his door and beg to camp on their open moorland: I just went ahead. In Scotland, people are allowed to pitch their tents where they please, provided they do not stray on to enclosed land, such as fields of crops. In England it's a different story, although many hikers, bikers and climbers do it anyway in remote uplands. Usually they are tolerated as long as they are discreet and responsible, but it is not a right. Countryside access campaigners hope the Dartmoor ruling will push Labour to open up more land to the public (as they once promised in opposition, with a right to roam). Some wonder if the judgment could prompt other national parks to allow responsible backpacking camping, as it makes clear that wild camping counts as open-air recreation. After all, the postwar bill establishing the national parks was designed to give people in bombed-out cities 'opportunities for open air recreation'. As the sunlight creeps down the sides of the valley, I fetch water from the River Erme and heat it on my stove. Soon, I have a warming mug of tea in my hands. This is very different from camping on a commercial site: there are no facilities or bins. You must carry out what you bring in – although you may carefully bury your own waste. It is not for everyone, but for those who love adventure and resent paying to be crammed between a palatial air-tent and an SUV with a safari-style roof tent in rural Suffolk. No one has staked out their group's patch with a fortification of wind breaks in something resembling a land grab. There are no queues and acrid smoke from burnt meat. The sense of freedom you get pitching your tent in open country is exhilarating. But of course, it brings a certain level of responsibility, and it is true some do not follow the rules. I reported on the spate of fly camping, where large groups left behind piles of rubbish and tents, during the pandemic. However, the supreme court judges made the point that it was far more effective for Dartmoor national park, which resisted Darwall's efforts along with a coalition of campaigners, to deal with irresponsible camping than leave it to private landowners to take action in the civil courts. Whatever the transgressions of this tiny minority, they pale into insignificance compared with the damage caused by irresponsible landowners across the UK. We live in one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. Intensive farming coupled with the climate crisis has sent wildlife into decline, with nearly 1 in 6 species now threatened with extinction. Dartmoor itself is being overgrazed, particularly by sheep. The problem, which has prompted warnings from Natural England and a government action plan, is destroying habitats and putting rare birds at risk of local extinction. Darwall, who offers pheasant shoots, deer stalking and holiday rentals on his land, has been accused of endangering a rare beetle by releasing pheasants next to an ecologically important woodland. On my 17km hike through rugged moorland, rushing rivers and moss-draped woodlands, I didn't see a single piece of litter or scorch marks from a fire. The only rubbish I saw was feed bags and boxes left by farmers. As I descend off the moor, I follow the route of one of the largest ever countryside access protests ever seen in the UK. After Darwall won his initial court case in the high court in 2023, thousands came together to defend the right to wild camp. It is a testament to their efforts that this special place remains open to all.
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Festival to include walking as a way to understanding Dartmoor
A new festival celebrating Dartmoor has been created to explore all aspects of the history and culture of the landscape, organisers say. From a place of inspiration for artists, to the role it has played in archaeologists' understanding of our ancestors, the Dartmoor Tors Festival is due to hold talks and walks looking at all aspects of moorland life. Writer Sophie Pierce and artist Alex Murdin have lived together on the moor for 25 years and said they wanted to find a way to help more people experience it for event, during the last bank holiday weekend in May, will take place at the Ashburton Arts Centre, with walks across Dartmoor. Ms Pierce said: "Topics range from archaeology, to right to roam and how artists have perceived Dartmoor."It has so many layers of interest; history, folklore and culture. "I think, perhaps, those of us who live locally are probably maybe a little bit guilty of not really appreciating it... We really want to spread the joy of this amazing place." The seeds of this festival were planted during the Covid-19 pandemic, when Alex started drawing the tors he had known most of his life but could not visit during lockdown. The pictures became the inspiration for a guide book about Dartmoor's granite tors called Rock Idols, written with his wife the couple started walking to 28 of them to research the book, they rediscovered all sorts of facts and stories about landscape that they wanted to share with other people, and so the Dartmoor Tors Festival was said: "During lockdown, I was focused on the place I lived... but I couldn't get out on the moor... so I started drawing the tors and got a better understanding of what they meant to me and the place I live in." The festival aims to get more people out on Dartmoor by guiding them on themed Alan Endacott is running a walk from Belstone called Dartmoor's Newest was an opportunity for members of the public to see the stone circles that he identified for the first time on a dig last year, he money from the ticket sales from his walk would go towards paying for the carbon dating of the charcoal that he discovered, helping further his research, he said. At there other end of the spectrum, storytellers and performers Sara Hurley and Lisa Schneidau will be running a walk near Hound event, Myths of the Moor, plans to bring to life the route guided by Gillian Healey with stories such as Kitty Jay's said: "Before anything was written down, before anything was recorded, everyone was telling stories."That was the way to pass down wisdom or provide entertainment." The Beltane Boarder Morris and musician Seth Lakeman are also among the acts that will be performing from the 23-25 May.
BBC News
17-05-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Peak District moorland fire 'caused by discarded glass bottle'
A fire that tore through moorland in Derbyshire's Peak District National Park was probably caused by light refracting through discarded glass bottles, firefighters have from stations in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire were called to Froggatt Edge, near Baslow, after a blaze was reported at about 15:30 BST on Fire and Rescue Service said its investigation found the bottles at the scene, which it said were "the most likely cause of the fire".The service advised residents and visitors to take their rubbish home and avoid lighting fires or having barbeques. "This is why we ask you to take your rubbish home or discard it responsibly," a statement said."Responding to these fires ties up our resources and can delay our response to other incidents which could be life risk."The fire service said some crews were still on the scene "to damp down any hotspots".
BBC News
17-05-2025
- BBC News
Three teenagers held on suspicion of arson over moorland fire
Three teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of arson after a large fire on moorland in Greater and the fire service were called to the blaze at Holcombe Hill, Bury, on fire was contained and put out later in the afternoon and an investigation was boys have been arrested and interviewed before being released on bail pending further inquiries, Greater Manchester Police said. Det Insp Andy Wright said: "The moorland fire is being investigated as arson following information from a witness and we have managed to apprehend three teenagers."Fires can have such a devastating effect and we are lucky that this has not caused a significant amount of damage, or cost lives." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
