Why the Meltham Moor fire was only a matter of time - Jo Thorp

The only other time we hope and search the skies for big, brooding rain clouds, desperate to see some building from the west is when that dreaded sweet smell of burning heather and moor grass fills the air.

Quite often it’s the distinctive scent drifting in the breeze that alerts me, way before the first tendrils of smoke can be seen curling into the sky.

We’ve been lucky this year so far, thanks in main to such a cold, wet spring. Usually there’ll have been a few fires before lambing time is finished, but sadly the first one appeared last week.

It was only a matter of time, however, that it would happen given the warm weather. The piles of disposable BBQs still available in local shops obviously proves too much for those that feel the need to take them out onto the moors.

It took five days for a huge team of hardworking and brave people to get on top of the fire. Five days in searing temperatures, carrying heavy equipment over incredibly difficult terrain.

Long heather, ankle snapping boulders and plenty of hidden holes to drop into, I have nothing but respect for those that persevered under such conditions.

Fighting moorland fires is utterly exhausting and dangerous work and no doubt incredibly frustrating.

Without funding for water drops from a helicopter, the hours spent battling the fire is backbreaking. It’s a massive team effort involving many different fire crews, the wild fire team, mountain rescue, farmers, keepers and landowners.

Then there’s the local shops that kindly donate food and drink that gets taken up to the site to keep everyone going.

Of course questions will be asked again about the banning of disposable BBQs, people’s access to our desperately fragile uplands but most importantly how they are managed in the future to prevent any further damage.

For now, the current damage will be assessed and Mother Nature will do what she always does; repair herself and the scorched, blackened earth will soon spring back to life.

I can’t help but wonder though, just how many more of these wild fires can happen before the damage and loss of our precious flora and fauna is irreversible.

The little guy is really getting to grips with his lovely bitch, Bess. It fills me with pride and admiration to watch the pair of them working a small flock of sheep in the croft.

The bond between the two of them has been there since day one. From the minute I held her as a tiny pup, only weeks old, I knew she was the one. As soon as she arrived at Stott Hall, the pair have been inseparable.

The hours spent exploring the hills with her, carrying her when she was small, getting her used to the quad bike and sheep, it’s all paying off.

She has been given the best start to life as a working dog by her breeder, Stuart Walton and the rest is now down to the little guy.