Lack of common sense a hazard to the moors

i READ with interest the article on the recent moor fires and Natural England (Yorkshire Post, May 7). Yes, this was just waiting to happen.

I work a lot on various moors, ditching etc. I am at present working in Swaledale and I asked the gamekeeper if public access had been stopped because of the tinder-dry state of the moor.

He replied in the negative because National Parks said that there wasn’t a problem. I have been going to this moor for 18 years and I haven’t seen it as dry, even in summer. So how dry does it have to be for these oafs, when it is too late and fired? I await a reply from bosses at the National Parks.

As for the other set of oafs, Natural England, what do they know about moor management? Nowt, other than what they learn at university, then they come out onto the moors as “know-alls”, telling keepers and managers who were brought up with fathers and grandfathers learning how to keep heather, how it should be for grouse and sheep, which is after all what the moor is there for. Plus, other ground birds such as plovers, curlews etc and not as these idiots seem to think, hen harriers only.

The moors were kept in good condition for generations long before Natural England was invented and will be long after these organisations have gone.

From: Stuart Hedley, Isle Close, Crowle, North Lincolnshire.

in response to Terry Duncan (Yorkshire Post, May 7) regarding sparrowhawks, may I suggest that he has been very privileged to have experienced a sparrowhawk going about its business in his garden and that he learns to appreciate all wild creatures, with the exception of grey squirrels and domestic cats.