One of the wildfires which we experienced in late March 2022. This one was about three miles away – photo taken from one of our upstairs bedroom windows.
First of all, I would very much like to thank everyone who expressed their concern, left comments, sent messages and emails in response to my previous blog post about the wildfire near our village last week. I was deeply touched.
I have to add that when viewed in daylight, the fire was actually further away than I had originally thought, due to an extra fold of land on the hillside which wasn’t apparent in the dark – although in my opinion, it was still too close to the village for comfort.
Strangely, for all my experiences of fire, I am in no way repelled, frightened or traumatised by it – I love bonfires, campfires and my open fire in the grate at home – but I do highly respect it. Fire is a potent and powerful energy which is largely uncontrollable once it escapes humanity’s carefully preserved boundaries.
What struck me most forcefully at the time, was that I felt that we should all be doing something to assist in the protection of our community, not simply shrugging our shoulders and piking off to bed to leave a mere handful of much stretched and over-worked professional fire fighters to battle it out alone on our behalf. If these kind of out-of-control fires are going to become more common place, might I suggest that every able-bodied adult keeps a fire beater in the garden shed or garage and at the first sign of trouble, we all turn out to deal with it, before such fires grow and get out of hand. (I believe that these types of measure are already taken in other countries where wildfires are more prevalent.)
I feel that it is time for communities to show more self reliance and responsibility for their own organisation and welfare. Simply sitting back and waiting for ‘them’ to come and sort out our problems is no longer enough. Yes, the services prefer us to keep out of the way in case we get hurt and cause more distraction and emergency work for them, but the type and severity of natural events and disasters that we are now experiencing regularly are beginning to make this unsustainable.
The other thing which quite surprised me was that, apart from gathering together useful or necessary items in case we had to evacuate the property quickly, I looked around the house at many much-loved things and didn’t feel any particular desire to try and ‘save’ any of them. It suddenly seemed that the house and all its contents – my home – came as a single unit, and if I couldn’t save it all, I wasn’t terribly bothered about any of it – the really important aspect of the situation to me were the animals and people – my loved ones… and if they were okay, then the rest was very much of secondary importance – in fact, didn’t really matter at all.
Also in March 2022 – Mynydd Mawr, one of the mountains at the head of our valley and just across from Y Wyddfa (Snowdon), was on fire. All the dark area to the left of the line of fire is land which had already been burned – the fire went on to consume that entire side of the mountain.
At this point I would also like to make it clear that while the dates for controlled burning of agricultural (and other) land only end on the 15th March (lowland areas) and the 31st March (upland areas), anyone entering into such activity must submit a burning plan to the relevant authorities for approval between 24 and 72 hours beforehand, and ensure that sufficient persons and equipment are present to control and regulate the fire. It is also illegal to set such fires between the hours of sunset and sunrise. There are complicated stipulations for limiting the amount of land burned at any one time and the juxtaposition of such natural features as streams, rivers and lakes.
I cannot be one hundred percent sure, but I should think that the fires we have experienced this past couple of weeks have all broken these regulations in some way, especially the huge fire which swept across the mountain a couple of miles away from us and the smaller fire near our village – both of these were lit well after dark, so were unlikely to be either farmers attempting controlled burning or accidental spontaneous combustion from sunlight.
I was brought up in an isolated rural area in the middle of farms and woodland, and I have lived here in this valley for nearly forty years. Apart from a similar few days of fire and smoke in late March 2022, (see photos) I have never seen anything like this wholesale burning of whole mountainsides. Farmers are officially allowed to burn land from the beginning of October (lowland) and the start of November (uplands). Why should they choose to wait until the very last few days, when the natural world is already well into the spring mating and nesting season, earlier now with the change in seasonal/environmental conditions, than when the government regulations were last updated in 2008.
Then there is the question of why there is a local presence of certain high-ranking officials who are looking very concerned and taking these events rather seriously.
We do indeed live in ‘interesting times’ – and it is now our opportunity to metaphorically stand up and be counted. Now is our chance to shine! Be that person who takes responsibility… who can be counted on… who focuses on the positive. Allow our care, humour and love to inform everything we do throughout each ‘ordinary’ day. Enjoy each ‘mundane’ moment to its fullest extent. After all, what is the alternative?
Make today your very best day yet!
October is upon us and deepest autumn has arrived. This is the month of the goddess, Cerridwen, Welsh deity of endings and death, but also of rejuvenation, rebirth and hope. The Celtic year ends at Nosen Calan Geaef on the 31st October with the completion of the harvest as winter closes in. In this month’s Walking With The Goddess, experience for yourself the magical, transformative journey to Cerridwen and her mighty cauldron and what it might bring you for your ‘new year’.
