Winter Hill on the road to recovery five years after wildfire

The sight of the moorland speckled with cottongrass and moss, and the sound of the lapwings and the skylarks, are suggestive more of centuries of prosperity and less of five years of recovery.

Roberta Gleaves, an engagement officer for the Woodland Trust, was not in the area when a wildfire raged for more than a month and ravaged an area the size of around 2,500 football pitches.

But she has heard from colleagues at the trust, which owns the section of the site in the Smithills Estate, about those 40 days or so atop the hill between the boroughs of Bolton, Blackburn with Darwen and Chorley.

She said: "I have heard from colleagues it was intense. 

"There is one account which sticks with me which is – because the fire burnt for more than 40 days and because the heat travelled through the ground – the firefighters were up there and their protective suits were eroding."

The damage to the fauna and the flora was devastating, according to Roberta.

But the wildlife she refers to is the same wildlife by which we are surrounded.

She said: "The fire burnt an area the size of around 2,500 football pitches so it was massive. I always use football pitches because it is easier to picture it.

"It burnt into the peat so there is a lot less peat on the moorland which is not the best for our biodiversity. 

"It burnt into a lot of the bird habitats, so our lapwings and our skylarks have a lot less homes to nest in. 

"A lot of the flora that is really, really important like the cottongrass and the moss was singed. And the insect habitats that are really, really important too."

If the recovery is testament to the resilience of the wildlife itself it is testament also to resilience of the workers and the volunteers at the Woodland Trust. 

The trust introduced a number of measures such as a central team at their HQ to respond to all fires at all sites, not only Smithills Estate, and a fire plan for the fire service to understand the access points and water sources in times of emergency.

But perhaps the most important of these measures is the team of fire patrollers which patrols the site twice a day in times of high risk, in particular between the start of spring and the end of summer.

These fire patrollers, who include Dave Haythornthwaite and Rakesh Patel, are on the lookout for barbecues, campfires, cigarettes, fireworks and anything else visitors might think to take on a trip.

Roberta said: "All of our volunteers are passionate about the site and passionate about spreading the knowledge about how important it is to protect the site. 

"They saw the damage the fire caused and they want to be able to make sure it does not happen again. 

"Sometimes I ask 'Will we get anyone out today?'

"But when I say 'We've got a high risk today, can anyone go out?' I get 'Yes, straight away, we're out'."

Despite this work the high risk remains and is, in some sense, out of the control of the Woodland Trust.

But there is a confidence the site is better placed and better prepared if a wildfire returns to Winter Hill.

Roberta said: "We've put a lot of prevention in place but there will always be a risk of fire. I think it was last year one of our volunteers was out on site. We presume it was a cigarette flicked from a car by Coal Pit Road and it caught really quickly and spread really quickly.

"Luckily, one of our volunteers was out on site and was able to call the fire brigade. It soon took but because the fire brigade were able to come as soon as possible, it was stopped. But I think there will always be a risk of fire."

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.