Saddleworth Moor Fire U.K.

These are from this afternoon on the western side of the Pennines. Bear in mind that column is originating from about 35 miles away...



The news said it's now under control and the slow process of extinguishing can begin.

a reply to: Kandinsky

Wow dude, that gives a sense of scale!
Everything is a tinderbox here right now, spoke to a couple of farmers the other day and they are worried.
All it takes is some stupid kids and a lighter, or some stupid tourists with their Poundland BBQ.

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

Yeah mate it looked so awesome I detoured to a high point to get a couple of photos.

Everything is a tinderbox here right now, spoke to a couple of farmers the other day and they are worried.

Got a flying visit down your way in August and hope there's no more bush fires...or dicks with matches.

a reply to: Kandinsky

Fantastic pics mate, I visited Saddleworth twice in the last few months, stunning landscape, I'd never been there before.
I bet it's reet bleak in winter!
...hopefully we'll be bush fire free when you make it to these parts, make sure you go a little off the beaten track and buy some scrumpy from a farm which doesn't have a license to sell it lol
We actually still have 'honesty boxes' on stalls by the roadside where you put your money in a tin!

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

There's honesty boxes for plants and eggs up here and I've never seen one for alcohol. Will keep an eye out for that one.

UPDATE :

an entertly seperate moorland fire now burning on winter hill [ north of bolton ]

i dont think it warrants its own threaad

could this on be changed to " UK moors fires updates " if the situation spreads ????

I'd be very surprised if they don't spread (Winter Hill and Rivington Pike are still on fire as of this afternoon, plus new fires in NI and Wales. I volunteer for Lancs wildlife trust (on a wetland) and it's been dry and all reservoir tanks empty for six weeks. It's not been this dry for at least 100 years. Gritters are out across the county today as roads are melting. I live in what's usually the wettest place in England (just over a metre of rain a year, rains 50% of days a year) - there's been about four inches total the last three months, can't remember it raining at all in June.

Everything's tinder dry, usually it's boggy and requires walking boots as mud will easily cover up your ankles instead it's cracked dry in a lot of places with grasses dying from drought. It's an El Nino year and set to stay hot and dry until September-October.

Would advise people to be aware of the potential for fires in the countryside and check for any warnings. It's normal to have a few wildfires but they've never spread this quickly before. Very, very minor risk but first time in living memory it's worth even considering.

a reply to: ignorant_ape

Those photos I uploaded were from the Belmont side of Winter Hill. At the time, there was no news about a new fire so I thought it had to be the smoke from Saddleworth despite looking very nearby. Cheers for the heads up.

The weather was so hot the tarmac had melted and came up off the road to stick to the rear tyre. I had to pull over and use a screwdriver and claw hammer to scrape most of it off. There were cyclists heading from Rivington Barn to Bolton who were heat exhausted and didn't have the experience to call it quits. Not all surprising that the moors were tinder dry and susceptible to sparks.

originally posted by: CornishCeltGuy
a reply to: Night Star

If you ever visit the UK I'd say go see Saddleworth moors. I've driven through it a couple of times in the last year, had never been before, absolutely stunning scenery. I bet it is bleak in the winter though.

I would love very much to visit, but I will never be able to afford to travel. I'm sure it is beautiful!

a reply to: Kandinsky

OMG, that is way too hot! I can't stand the heat and it gets so humid where I am as well. It's like you could melt into a puddle, but the tarmac melting and sticking to tires? Holy crap!

originally posted by: Night Star

originally posted by: CornishCeltGuy
a reply to: Night Star

If you ever visit the UK I'd say go see Saddleworth moors. I've driven through it a couple of times in the last year, had never been before, absolutely stunning scenery. I bet it is bleak in the winter though.

I would love very much to visit, but I will never be able to afford to travel. I'm sure it is beautiful!

If you ever did have the chance to travel to England, a visit to Bodmin Moor Cornwall is a must.

You can visit Dozmary Pool on the moor. According to legend, this is where King Arthurs Sword, Excalibur is supposed to rest.

a reply to: alldaylong

You got a side gig with 'Visit Cornwall' ???
I'm not knocking it mate, this entire peninsular depends on outside money coming here. It's rammed right now in this heatwave, millions of people from other nations or parts of Britain. I love it!
Make hay while the sun shines before winter, when everyone knows each other and everyone has shagged each other, either directly or indirectly.

a reply to: alldaylong

Wow! Beautiful! Love the legend of King Arthurs sword!

originally posted by: Night Star
a reply to: alldaylong

Wow! Beautiful! Love the legend of King Arthurs sword!

Neolithic era stone circles here as well, buy a lottery ticket one day, I could recommend many places outside of corporate London which you would love I think.

a pic i took on thursday, of the view toward winter hill from a street near my flat;

pasteboard.co...

originally posted by: alldaylong

originally posted by: Night Star

originally posted by: CornishCeltGuy
a reply to: Night Star

If you ever visit the UK I'd say go see Saddleworth moors. I've driven through it a couple of times in the last year, had never been before, absolutely stunning scenery. I bet it is bleak in the winter though.

I would love very much to visit, but I will never be able to afford to travel. I'm sure it is beautiful!

If you ever did have the chance to travel to England, a visit to Bodmin Moor Cornwall is a must.

You can visit Dozmary Pool on the moor. According to legend, this is where King Arthurs Sword, Excalibur is supposed to rest.

My brother and dad have not recently moved to Bodmin itself, I'll have to visit the moors one day. Me and my family use to be a regular to Cornwall but to Perranporth. When I visit my relatives in Bodmin I plan to stay for a week or two so I'm gonna go out and explore.

Sorry if any mods are watching and the post is off topic jus thought I'd chime in

The Winter hill fire has gone huge and merged with another, 22 year old man from Bolton has been arrested for starting it. Luckily a few degrees cooler today but still in t shirt at 5am without a (non wildfire) cloud in the sky.

Helicopters were flying out from here (Preston) last night, not sure if it was Army or Air Ambulance but lasted a few hours. Nothing so far today though.

Gives a great view of just how dry the marsh/reeds are and how big the fire is (from 25 miles away) www.blogpreston.co.uk...

The mast on Winter Hill is critical to National Security (communications) for a large area which could make tackling it very difficult but can be re-routed to Carlisle-ish area.

originally posted by: RoScoLaz5
a pic i took on thursday, of the view toward winter hill from a street near my flat;

pasteboard.co...

Great capture of the scale of it (non Lancs members, the thin black mast to the centre right of the pic is 1000ft/310m high)

a reply to: Night Star

We get the temperatures and they usually arrive with humidity and overcast skies. Brits always complain about the weather. I just get on and enjoy it, melted roads or not. The atmosphere of sunny climes raises happiness despite the comedy grumbles.

a reply to: bastion

Was driving south from Penrith yesterday and could see the pall of smoke from Rivington all the way up there. They've spent the last few years trying to grow renewable wood on those slopes. Such a shame that Pillock McDufus Features decided to set it on fire.

a reply to: Kandinsky

Brits love the rain. Nothing better than a good thunderstorm mate.

a reply to: Archonic

Yeah true.

We're in a heat wave and I keep hearing people looking forward to next week's thunder storm. That'll be followed by, "Pfft looks like summer's over already." Moan moan moan.