On the right track

It being that time of year again, our opponents will no doubt be calling for the banning of driven grouse shooting. There will be images on social media showing how the moorlands have been supposedly ‘scarred’ by the inclusion of hard tracks put there by ‘wealthy landowners’ so as to more easily facilitate access to the butts.

Such access is a contentious issue: tracks do not though, despite what some may think, exist purely for the benefit of grouse shooters. Moorland is carefully managed for many reasons, both practical and aesthetic, and to do so efficiently vehicular access is required by landowners, shepherds, foresters, gamekeepers and wardens alike. There are today fewer hill shepherds and gamekeepers than was once the case and, with more ground to be covered by fewer