Have a look at this article and photographs from the Ban the Burn protest at Hebden Bridge.
Good luck to them!
Calder Valley remains the constituency with the highest number of signatures on the e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting – 679 of them as I write. I wonder whether, assuming that we get a debate in parliament (as we should), local MP Craig Whittaker will attend – he should! I wonder whether he will speak – he might well wish to. I wonder whether he will speak on behalf of his flooded constituents of recent years or on behalf of the millionaire grouse moor owner, Richard Bannister, who lives up the hill. Whatever he does, this blog will certainly publish his behaviour here if there is a debate.
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Mark ,this is really appreciated Thanks for the Amazing Campaign and Petition to ban driven grouse shooting,and to everybody who helped with it.We were on the way up to Walshaw Moor sat 13th aug when the Fantastic News came through,that the Petition had hit 100 000 ,and although the turnout wasn’t great no doubt due to the abysmal weather there was an almighty Cheer .Now we know we are so right,and us ordinary Folk are Standing up defiant against this Insanity of the driven grouse shooting debacle.Thanks.
P’s we will be emailing our M P Craig Whittaker,to ask which side of the fence he stands,and to urge him to attend and hopefully speak,it should tell us a lot !
Big congratulations Mark and Chris and huge thanks,your’e campaign has been awesome.When you see the Grouse butts on Walshaw moor that have been put in illegally [Mark writes: that was the subject of the abandoned legal action wasn’t it? Not sure they are strictly speaking, illegal. It’s a shame that the case did not go ahead], deep into 2000 years of peat,you see the price that is paid for driven Grouse shooting.Those who have known the moor for decades know the price that has been paid,the degradation of habitat and mass killing of all manner of wildlife.We will keep campaigning until this changes.
Ros – thank you and good luck to you! I have added a small bracketted comment to yopurs – hope that is OK. You and I wouldn’t want to be sued would we? Well I wouldn’t anyway!
Hi Mark,don’t mind at all, but I am fairly certain these were the butts that were put in without prior consent and they are flush with the peat level around them,including one that is set into the edge of a bare peat channel.Heartbreaking.They do not appear on the 1:25,000 map of Walshaw moor so were not there historically.
I’d like to think that any debate will not be the usual party politics presided over by puppets for the establishment. Then again I suppose we might see some more rubbish we can use to further the real case?
Perhaps I am naive, but what possibility is there of a investigation into the various claims and counter claims, attendance by experts and cross examination of such expert witnesses and such?
We need robust facts not the media spin, we deserve accountability for the associated costs consequential of public funds expended on wealthy landowners? Public funds need to demonstrate public benefit IMHO.
Henry needs justice for his decimated clan ….
PS Keep meaning to say, love the expressions on the three ‘musketeers’* faces!
* Poetic licence.
Mark, a word of thanks from Melanie and myself to Keith, Brian(above) and the other lovely Hebden Bridgers who made us most welcome yesterday.
Having left Lincolnshire at silly o/clock, it started to rain just as we drove into the town.
However, it was well worth the trip to see for ourselves the damage done to the moors above the town.
Until you get onto to the tops, it’s impossible to imagine the vast expanse of land that would have once protected the town by acting as a huge sponge during a heavy downfall. A massive catchment area that now feeds quickly into a very deep and narrow river.
Unfortunately, we have seen the same damage done to many moors in the name of sport.
However, what was new to us were the grouse butts. Not any old grouse butts but the Rolls Royce of grouse butts, complete with seating and dog tie rings. The only thing missing was a fridge for the ice, whisky and Pimms.
It’s a great shame that the above article didn’t show a picture of them since we found what we think is an omission in ‘Inglorious’.
Sacrilege to say I know, but I don’t remember reading anywhere that grouse shooting was responsible for the death of frogs!
The butts are straight sided and sunk up to the rim to be level with the land. Perhaps four foot deep at least. And in the bottom of each of the six butts we looked into we found dead frogs.
Apparently, these people who are so very concerned with the conservation of wildlife on their moors, can’t be bothered to put a simple rim around their butts to prevent frogs from falling in. Once in, they have no way of climbing out again. If the fall doesn’t kill them, they will die a very slow death. Nice.
So if the you haven’t signed the petition yet but you love frogs, sign it now!
Even if grouse shooting were to end tomorrow, the moors would take many years to recover. Every time it rains heavily above the town, the villagers will be left wondering if they are to be flooded again.
Would you want to live like that?
Please, keep getting people to sign and keep spreading the word.
And visit Hebden, it’s lovely, as are the people.
Nimby – Ban the Burn has solid evidence of the damage caused to the moorland by heather burning, and other land management practices Walshaw Moor Estate uses for its industrial-scale grouse rearing. We will make sure our MP Craig Whittaker has all this evidence before the debate, as well as a record of the Environmental Audit Committee’s session on Walshaw Moor Estate some years ago – and our comments on this session, because we think they let Natural England get away with a lot. What he does with this information is up to him, but at least we can make sure he has it.
I haven’t visited Walshaw Moor but would welcome knowing more about its drainage. The Ban the Burn article notes the landowner was allowed to construct tracks and ditches, but also shows ditches that have been dammed to re-wet the blanket peatland. Are some areas of the site being restored while other parts continue to be drained with ditches (grips)? If so, have any maps been produced showing where blocking has been carried out and where existing ditches continue to be maintained or constructed? Also, have any scientific studies been done on the hydrology of the moor itself?
Andy – I think I have written 53 blogs specifically about Walshaw Moor here – and you can find them by clicking on the bottom of the list of categories on the right of these posts ‘Wuthering Moors’. But the one you probably want to have a look at is this one https://markavery.info/2016/01/05/wuthering-moors-52/
The case, but not specifically the hydrology is also prominent in parts of my book Inglorious.