WHAT a wonderful spell of hot weather, a real summer for a change - but how ironic that it should come in a year when half the countryside is still closed due to the continuing foot and mouth epidemic, so that people cannot enjoy it to the full and farmers have too many worries.
A real heatwave, too hot to do anything much except sit in the shade (or watch Wimbledon). Then, in the middle of a scorchingly hot afternoon, I saw an ominous dark cloud rising from North Hill above Whitecross. The moor was on fire!
All too often a spell of fine dry weather puts the moorland at risk, and nearly every year there is at least one fire on the hill. Last year's summer was so bad that for once we didn't have a blaze - it was just too wet!
I had a grandstand view of the fire from the garden and the upstairs studio, and divided my time between watching the fire and a gripping match at Wimbledon on TV. The hillside vegetation had become tinder dry due to the hot sun, and the fire spread quickly, racing down the hillside towards Whitecross Woods.
What had caused this disastrous blaze? A carelessly discarded cigarette, the sun rays concentrated through a piece of broken glass, or worse still, started deliberately by vandals? Too late to worry about the cause now; all efforts were on extinguishing the spreading flames.
Fire crews were up on the hillside until darkness fell - but even then there were signs that the fire was still burning deep down in the peaty soil.
Next morning it was a little cooler with a welcome breeze, but it soon began to warm up again, and by midday the wisps of smoke visible at breakfast time had become a fire again with billowing clouds of smoke and bright flames licking across the moor.
The fire brigade was in quick attendance, but the wind changed and the fire turned up the side of the steep combe by the reservoir hut, seeming to gain still more ground despite the firemen's efforts. The weary firefighters battled on, campers were evacuated from the campsite on the hill and people living nearby also feared that they might have to be evacuated too if the fire got any worse.
By dusk the main fire had been vanquished, but the hillside still smouldered on with plumes of smoke drifting over the burned ground. No sign of the promised thunderstorms materialising when they would have been really useful!
A stronger breeze on the third day, making the temperature a lot more pleasant but posing the constant threat that the fires would break out again. Thanks to the firemen's vigilance and constant damping down, things were kept well under control. Still no sign of any rain despite cloudy skies - it never rains when you need it!
The fourth day, and for once I could not see any plumes of smoke rising from the blackened ground. A light shower overnight had merely wet the leaves of garden plants and not made any impression on the dry earth. Firemen were still out on the hillside, not leaving anything to chance.
Then in the afternoon they packed up and left - and I for one kept going out into the garden, watching for any stray wisps of smoke appearing again.
When the fire was obviously completely out, I deemed it safe to walk through Whitecross Woods and see for myself the damage caused by the blaze. I was delighted to find that the woods were unscathed - although it had been a close escape.
Where Peggy's Path joined the path from the woods, the fire had reached the edge of the track, and along the narrower path leading to Woodcombe I could see where the firemen had cut down the tall gorse to prevent the flames leaping over to the trees.
There was the acrid smell of burned vegetation and scorched earth, and twisted stems of gorse sticking out of the blackened ground - and wildlife was conspicuous by its absence. How many fledgling birds perished in the flames, together with the slow worms and snakes? Eeven deer calves were at risk.
I walked on down into Woodcombe, turning back frequently to look at the desolate black hillside, and thankful that the fire had not spread any further. Along the narrow path to Woodcombe the gorse forms a wall some eight foot high and this would have produced a massive burn if it had caught fire.
The burned area will take some time to regenerate, and the heather that makes the hill look so lovely in summer will suffer most for gorse and bracken regrow quicker and will swamp the heather if they are not controlled. It will be years before the hill recovers fully from such a damaging fire.
Let's hope that is the only blaze on the hill this summer. Hot sunny weather is a delightful change, but extra care is needed when the countryside vegetation dries out.