Brecon Beacons - Tinder dry.
11th August 2026
As this dangerous spell of weather continues even the smallest casually discarded spark now spells disaster. Here in the Brecon Beacons, as I’m sure like everywhere else, the land is parched and tinder dry. I have not cut any grass for two months which is unprecedented for me and the smallest amount of water from a can is barely keeping plants alive.
It’s beyond belief that one current mountain fire in South Wales has been started deliberately, this outrageous behaviour should carry the most severe penalties for the cretins involved.
A particular and intense dislike of mine is portable barbeques; they should have been banned years ago in my opinion; there is no need for them whatsoever!! They are first used and then left smouldering by irresponsible people who shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the countryside. Police had to extinguish one of these things only last week in some fields near a school in Brecon. The people involved were adults who quite frankly should have known better.
Yesterday Susan and I walked up onto a mountain near us and witnessed a huge grass fire on a moorland across the valley. On the local news it is reported to be as large as 500 football pitches. We watched in horror at the plume of smoke rising up into the sky as firefighters and a water carrying helicopter battled to contain it.
Trying to control these wind driven fires is incredibly difficult, totally exhausting and extremely dangerous, and the fire fighters involved should be commended for the work they are doing.
With no further rain and also high temperatures basically forecasted for the rest of August this situation is so serious. Almost every fire of this nature involves human activity (even a discarded glass bottle a year ago is today acting as a magnifying glass for the sun’s rays) and was left by somebody! Now is the time for extra vigilance from everybody in the countryside, inhabitants and visitors alike.
It’s beyond belief that one current mountain fire in South Wales has been started deliberately, this outrageous behaviour should carry the most severe penalties for the cretins involved.
A particular and intense dislike of mine is portable barbeques; they should have been banned years ago in my opinion; there is no need for them whatsoever!! They are first used and then left smouldering by irresponsible people who shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the countryside. Police had to extinguish one of these things only last week in some fields near a school in Brecon. The people involved were adults who quite frankly should have known better.
Yesterday Susan and I walked up onto a mountain near us and witnessed a huge grass fire on a moorland across the valley. On the local news it is reported to be as large as 500 football pitches. We watched in horror at the plume of smoke rising up into the sky as firefighters and a water carrying helicopter battled to contain it.
Trying to control these wind driven fires is incredibly difficult, totally exhausting and extremely dangerous, and the fire fighters involved should be commended for the work they are doing.
With no further rain and also high temperatures basically forecasted for the rest of August this situation is so serious. Almost every fire of this nature involves human activity (even a discarded glass bottle a year ago is today acting as a magnifying glass for the sun’s rays) and was left by somebody! Now is the time for extra vigilance from everybody in the countryside, inhabitants and visitors alike.