The UK is one of the wettest islands on earth and we've got pretty used to 365 days of drizzle. Infact, it makes us feel at home and it gives us something to moan about too. 2018 was going to be something different though. Instead of four months of the rain getting warmer, we had four months of constant 30 degree sunshine - every single day. Hope Valley, a beauty spot within the Peak District National Park and home to CDR Group, is usually a luscious expanse of grass moorland and sheep fields. However by May, it looked like a scene from Africa - grass became so parched and dry that it crunched under your feet.
It will amaze you then that every weekend, rangers were out clearing away disposable barbecues left on the moors by members of the public. Seven 'major incident' moorland fires were tackled between May and August but hundreds of smaller wildfires were also dealt with by fire and rescue services and landowners, going unreported. The largest and most deadly was the Saddleworth Moor fire, to the North-East of Manchester which burned across 4,480 acres of land and took over three weeks to be extinguished. Ground-nesting curlews, skylarks and pipit eggs perished along with newly hatched chicks. Other moorland wildlife including mountain hares and voles may not have been able to escape the blaze but the full death toll on this fragile ecosystem is not yet known. Six of the seven fires are being treated as deliberate arson. The fire at The Roaches, near Leek, was caused by a campfire in the woods.
Whilst smoke from Saddleworth travelled west as far as Wigan, smoke from The Roaches reached as far north as Sheffield and covered the Hope Valley in a thick cloud. Whether a deliberate attack on the moors or a well meaning mistake, the effects of these fires will continue to be seen for years to come.