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Andrew Weston

@groatbury.bsky.social

Earthling, retired ecological surveyor, environmentalist, lefty, internationally unrecognised nature photographer, guitarist, obsessive O'Carolan arranger, early musicke aficionado, Yorkshire droll exiled to Raspberry Republic of Scotland.

868 Posts668 Follower721 Folgt
Ian Dunt@iandunt.bsky.social · 2d ago

Fascinating change in BBC news bulletins about Reform. Farage announcement on small boats only gets the third spot and is balanced by critics saying he's trying to distract from allegations over his finances. Quite the change from the uncritical coverage earlier this year.

Count Binface@countbinface.bsky.social · 3y ago

Under a Binface government, anyone who doesn’t accept human-made climate change as fact will be sent back to school, from Year 1 right the way to A Levels, to see if anything goes in the second time round. #VoteBinface

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Guy Shrubsole@guyshrubsole.bsky.social · last wk.

So ex-grouse moor manager Robert Frewen, who’s since blocked me, is claiming that moorland drainage had nothing to do with grouse. That’s codswallop. For decades, grouse moor owners were advised to drain their moors to boost grouse & heather, & did so. From my book The Lie of the Land:

Post from ‘Papa Frew’ aka Robert Frewen, ex-grouse moor manager, claiming: “Drains (grips) were dug in peat moors in the ‘50s and ‘60s under government grant to increase grasses and sheep production. Nothing to do with grouse. Grips on grouse moors mostly blocked but much still to do”Page from my book ‘The Lie of the Land’, reads: “Since the 1850s, landowners have degraded both blanket bog and heathland habitats in two main ways: through drainage and repeated burning. Draining moorlands involves digging drainage channels (called grips) through the peat, into which the surrounding water runs out and off the hillsides. By lowering the water table, drainage kills the sphagnum mosses, stops peat from forming, and causes terrible damage to the underlying peat by drying it out. Exposed to the air, the carbon in the peat starts to oxidise, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. And by gouging holes in the blanket bog, it loses its sponge-like capacity to hold water, sending it downstream to cause floods. Nowadays, pro-shooting groups like the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) like to blame moorland drainage on historic state subsidies aimed at improving grazing for sheep. There is some sheep grazing on grouse moors, though in low densities; too many and they start to eat the heather. Mainly the sheep are there to be 'tick mops - mopping up the ticks that can…”Page 43 from my book ‘The Lie of the Land’. Text reads: “…spread disease to grouse. And it's certainly true that misguided government grants for hill farm drainage were doled out between the 1950s and 1980s. But grouse moor owners were draining their moors for many decades before this, for the express purpose of improving conditions for grouse. As the historian Tom Williamson notes, 'drains were often dug into the wetter areas, in order to encourage the growth of heather at the expense of purple moor-grass, cotton grass and bog-moss, something which deprived birds such as snipe and redshank of suitable nesting areas. In his history of the Peak District moors, David Hey describes a nineteenth-century drain called the Black Dyke, which 'the Duke of Devonshire ordered to be cut across the moor for 1½ miles between two cloughs.’ Indeed, moorland drainage was repeatedly recommended to grouse moor owners, from the Edwardian period through to the 1950s. As the editor of The Field, a shooting magazine, advised readers in 1904: "There can be little doubt that where surface drainage is properly carried out on a grouse moor, not only the sheep but also the grouse are thereby benefited... As regards grouse, excess of moisture impoverishes the heather, and makes it unhealthy for the birds to feed upon.“ That same year, an article in Country Life on "The Management of Grouse Moors' instructed its audience: "in order to be the happy possessor or lessee of a really satisfactory grouse moor, the following axioms are essential, viz... careful and systematic heather-burning... Vermin mercilessly destroyed... [and] drainage operations carried out with an eye to the welfare of the grouse, as well as the sheep. The conclusions of Parliament's inquiry into grouse disease in 1912 also stated: "it can be urged with confidence that a well-drained moor is less liable to dangerous infection... than a moor with stagnant pools...” - continued on next image alt text Continued alt text from previous image, and text from this image: “On most moors money would be well expended in draining, for not only would the risk of infection be thereby lessened, but the total yield of heather would be increased. As late as 1958, the author Richard Waddington expounded draining in an influential book on grouse moor management: “Neither the grouse bird nor the heather plant likes wet feet and a large area of wet boggy ground is a dead loss on a grouse moor. And landowners continued to heed such advice. As an academic article on moorland management from 1977 reported, land managers frequently drain wet moors in an attempt to increase grouse stocks. A survey carried out in 1979 by the Game Conservancy -which later became the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust - found that 'in the north of England, 28 of 51 grouse moor owners (55%) had drained parts of their moorland estates in recent years.’ As recently as 1993, the management plan drawn up for the Duke of Devonshire's huge Bolton Abbey Estate included the 'cleaning of grips, ditches and drains as one of the stated duties of their gamekeepers.’”
Dr. Merritt Rae Turetsky@queenofpeat.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Last fall, this deep sinkhole appeared at one of our field sites, with ground collapse happening in just a few weeks. This is what abrupt permafrost thaw looks like, with implications for soil stability, erosion, and methane emissions. Will be curious to see what happens here this summer.

Dr. Merritt Rae Turetsky@queenofpeat.bsky.social · last wk.

Peat in its natural state is fire resistant. Healthy boglands protect adjacent forests and grasslands from drought and fire. But under a warming climate and mismanagement, peat fires can wreak havoc and burn for months. Important thread by @davidrvetter.bsky.social

Dave Vetter@davidrvetter.bsky.social · 2w ago

I join you from the Blaenavon wildfire in Southeast Wales, brought to you by BP, Shell and Equinor. Though it does not look dramatic, the fire has been out of control for days - for a very particular reason. 🧵

A photograph of multiple fire service vehicles parked on moorland. In the background, white smoke from multiple fires is rising.
Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf@rahmstorf.bsky.social · 2w ago

Holiday in the climate emergency. No that’s not AI or edited, just a snapshot I just took with my phone on Lacanau beach in France. What future will this boy grow up in? It is in our hands, but time is running out.

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Andy Scollick@andyscollick.bsky.social · last wk.

Spreading wildfire. Nuclear ballistic missile propellent storage site. Not of interest to anyone? 🤷‍♂️

Andy Scollick@andyscollick.bsky.social · last wk.

Etienne Marcuz, associate fellow at the FRS think tank: "If the unprecedented forest fires in Gironde represent above all an environmental and human catastrophe, they also threaten highly strategic sites for our nuclear deterrence." #wildfires #France #nuclear #defence #military #ClimateChange

Fire Brigades Union@fbunational.bsky.social · 2w ago

July is on course to be the driest in nearly 200 years, with droughts declared across Wales. The Met Office has predicted that UK summers will be 60% drier by 2070. And yet there aren't enough firefighters to deal with faster-growing and more frequent wildfires.

Richard Murphy@richardjmurphy.bsky.social · 2w ago

I had some hopes. John Healey has shattered them www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/07... John Healey outlined what he saw as the role of the Treasury in a speech yesterday. It was pure George Osborne. There is no hope for Burnham with Healey in No. 11.

I had some hopes. John Healey has shattered them

John Healey’s appointment as Chancellor surprised many people, me included. The biggest reason for surprise was that he has no record as an economic thinker. As I noted on Monday evening, he might ha...

taxresearch.org.uk

George Monbiot@georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 2w ago

A barrister represents his clients in court. Clients who are political dissidents. He now faces criminal prosecution for doing so. Not Turkey. Not Egypt. Not Russia. England. Astonishing, deeply disturbing, and part of a long slide towards authoritarianism. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Palestine Action barrister’s prosecution criticised as ‘chilling’

CBA chair says contempt charge over closing speech by Rajiv Menon KC has left lawyers fearful of doing their job

theguardian.com

George Monbiot@georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 2w ago

I strongly believe in giving the man a chance. But keeping Shabana Mahmood as Home Secretary suggests the vicious attacks on immigrants and refugees, and self-defeating attempts to outrun the far right, are likely to continue. Which is pretty damn depressing. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Read these words from 100 years ago about immigrants in Britain – and see how history is chillingly repeating itself | George Monbiot

Shabana Mahmood’s new rights clampdown looks outlandish until we remember that this kind of hardline action is part of our country’s fabric, says George Monbiot

theguardian.com

George Monbiot@georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 3w ago

Excellent and essential letters here, laying to rest some pervasive myths about Carbon Capture and Storage, and raising further concerns about both the astonishing financial outlay and the vast climate damage it will cause.

Dr Andrew Boswell #CarbonReckoning@drandrewboswell.bsky.social · 3w ago

1/7 After @georgemonbiot.bsky.social exposed deep flaws in carbon capture &storage—and the extraordinary sums this Govt is committing to it—CCS industry lobbyists and pro-CCS scientists responded. @sioldridge.bsky.social &I answer them here www.theguardian.com/environment/... 🧵

BladeoftheSun@bladeofthes.bsky.social · 3w ago

The bill to combine the US Military with Israel and provide $500bn to Donald Trump to bomb Iran was blocked in the Senate. Which is good news for everyone except Trump and Israel.

Jonathan Cook@jonathan-cook.bsky.social · 4w ago

Burnham's contrition on Gaza is entirely hollow. Watch what he actually does in power. Read my latest here: jonathancook.substack.com/p/burnhams-c...

Burnham's contrition on Gaza is hollow. Watch what he actually does in power

Here is a list of the things Britain's incoming prime minister is obligated to do to avoid collusion in Israel's genocide, according to an International Court of Justice ruling. Will he do any of it?

jonathancook.substack.com