Another Wildfire on unmanaged National Trust land near Snake Pass tackled by neighbouring gamekeepers
- C4PMC
- 2 minutes ago
- 2 min read
A wildfire continues to burn across moorland off the Snake Pass near Glossop, in a fresh reminder of the risks posed by unmanaged upland habitat during dry spells.
Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to the scene at 20:58 on Thursday and has confirmed that the fire is now affecting an area of 1,500 by 300 metres. Five fire engines remain on site, supported by two water carriers, a command support unit, a welfare unit and a rural unimog. The Fire Operations Group and Derby Mountain Rescue are also in attendance.
The ground on which the fire is burning is owned by the National Trust. The Peak District Moorland Group confirmed that gamekeepers from neighbouring privately managed moors had been tackling the blaze through the night, with some remaining on site for the duration and others returning at first light.
The pattern is a familiar one. Wildfires take hold most readily on land where vegetation has been allowed to grow rank, where fuel loads are heavy, and where there has been little or no rotational management to break up dense stands of heather. Managed grouse moors, by contrast, are maintained in a mosaic of short and tall vegetation through cool burning and cutting, creating natural firebreaks and reducing the volume of combustible material available to a fire.
The contrast was on display overnight. Gamekeepers whose own moors are actively managed travelled onto unmanaged ground to fight a fire that the wider conservation estate has been less well prepared to prevent or contain.
The National Gamekeepers' Organisation has now moved its wildfire risk index to red for every moorland area in England and Wales. Conditions on the ground are deteriorating. The Peak District Moorland Group warned that moderate winds are moving the fire at pace and that today's weather will only dry out the moss further.
Visitors are not helping. Gamekeepers in the Peak District alone dealt with 36 wild camping and open fire incidents over the previous weekend. With the risk index now at its highest level, any open flame on the moors carries the potential to start an incident on the scale of the one currently burning above Glossop.
Derbyshire Police have confirmed the A57 remains open but that there is no parking at Snake Summit until further notice. Motorists have been asked to avoid the area, and residents have been advised to keep windows and doors closed where smoke is visible.
The case for active moorland management has rarely been more clearly drawn. When fires break out on unmanaged ground, it is the gamekeepers from neighbouring managed estates who answer the call. A serious conversation is overdue about why so much of the upland conservation estate remains in a state that leaves it exposed when the weather turns against it.
