Iron Age on the Moors: Percy Rigg’s Hidden Houses
For centuries, five Iron Age round houses sat quietly on this ridge in North Yorkshire, and nobody noticed. Not bad for a neighbourhood that was probably occupied for over 300 years.
The site was only spotted in 1962, when Fred Proud of Sleddale Farm found it and reported it to ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2026/03/21/iron-age-on-the-moors-percy-riggs-hidden-houses/
#Kildale #NorthYorkMoors #GrouseMoorManagement #history #IronAge
Cool Burns and Warm Fictions
Ah, that warm, pungent smell of a recent so-called “cool burn”.
Now, I do not know whether these moorland burns truly reduce the fuel load and prevents catastrophic wildfires. I will heed the scientists and the fire brigade experts, but I am immediately sceptical of lobby groups pushing a single agenda.
Navigating the internet today i ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2026/03/12/cool-burns-and-warm-fictions/
When Infographics Burn Brighter Than Evidence
An image drifted across my feed this morning: a mugshot of a certain former prince. Briefly amusing, obviously fake, the work of some obliging AI dressed up as reality. Elsewhere, a Facebook post from the Moorland Association offered something far less harmless. A polished infographic declared, ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2026/02/21/when-infographics-burn-brighter-than-evidence/
Toad in the Hole
How thoughtful the keepers appear to be, fashioning what looks like a charming wildlife pond in the middle of the grouse moor. A touching gesture, if one overlooks the small detail that this idyllic pool is also a shooting butt where folk crouch, lie in wait, and unleash a storm of shot at birds driven overhead. Should the heavens open, the “sportsmen” will ...
Purple Heather, Brown Truth
The ling, or common heather, has reached its peak bloom just days before the start of the grouse shooting season — the annual spectacle in which profit and sport take precedence over the land itself. This year, the display is patchy. Whole swathes have turned a brittle reddish-brown, appearing dead but ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/08/09/purple-heather-brown-truth/
#NewtonMoor #NorthYorkMoors #CallunaVulgaris #GrouseMoorManagement #Ling #NationalTrust
The Government’s Proposals to Curb Heather Burning
Gisborough Moor, from across Sleddale, is marked by neat, rectangular patches of scorched heather. These are “swiddens,” the product of controlled burning, a practice designed to create the perfect environment for grouse. The idea is simple: burn the old heather, let fre ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/03/31/the-governments-proposals-to-curb-heather-burning/
#GisboroughMoor #NorthYorkMoors #Sleddale #ecology #GrouseMoorManagement
Scorched Earth: A Cool Burn on Hasty Bank
Ah yes, the wonders of the so-called “cool burn”—a delightful little exercise in setting fire to the heather in supposedly small, controlled patches. The idea, we are told, is to clear out the old heather without charring the peat or moss underneath, thereby avoiding carbon loss and allowing for ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/03/18/scorched-earth-a-cool-burn-on-hasty-bank/
#Bilsdale #HastyBank #NorthYorkMoors #ecology #GrouseMoorManagement
Sinister Relics at Penrod Spring
Two years ago, during one of my habitual wanderings, I stumbled upon a peculiar structure concealed within a 19th-century walled enclosure at the so-called Penrod Spring. I say “so-called” because there was no trace of water.
Buried in its crumbling remains was a sinister wooden contraption, shaped like a ‘T’—reminisce ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/03/12/sinister-relics-at-penrod-spring/
Smoke Signals from Baysdale
I am always saddened when I see those great plumes of smoke drifting across the skyline. It's a stark reminder, according to the State of Nature Report 2023, that the UK has earned itself a reputation as "one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth", with biodiversity taking a significant hit.
A good three-quarters of our moorlands are eit ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=34975
#Baysdale #CodhillSlack #NorthYorkMoors #Burning #GrouseMoorManagement
Hutton Moor — Biodiversity vs. Profit
This is Hutton Moor at the northern end of the Percy Cross Rigg track. I see that the self-seeded birch and spruce that have sprouted on the heather moorland have been unceremoniously cut down. The rationale is clear; if left unchecked, the moorland will eventually transform into a birch woodland. However, this does come at the cost of ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=34717
#HuttonMoor #NorthYorkMoors #ClevealndWay #ecology #GrouseMoorManagement
Mick Garratt
