Langbar Loop #11: S**t Storm @ Holden Gill!
The 11th cache in the series, a small slim black-taped push-capped tube, is hidden at the upper side of the footpath running along the edge of the farmland at the top of the steep western bank of Holden Gill.
See Langbar Loop #1 for background info on the series including a map.
This was a memorable hide as while I was placing the cache, a muck-spreader passed close by in the adjacent field and I took cover behind the cache tree (a huge oak?) moving slowly around as the muck flew past in all directions. The stench was also pretty impressive - so all in all an unforgettable experience! - and probably one which soon will not be repeated - see below.
Like West Hall Beck (featuring in LL ##1-3) Holden Gill is another of the numerous streams running down the slopes of Beamsley Beacon & adjacent boggy moorland. It flows SW through a steeply sloped wooded valley and then across farmland to apparently disappear into the ground just north of West Hall Lane.
Its source is just NW of Delves Tarn on Middleton Moor. This must be a watershed as Dryas Dike originating under 100m to the north runs eastwards down to March Ghyll Reservoir.
Most maps of the area show Black Foss Waterfall down in the gill somewhere down from the cache location. It is listed on Yorkshire Waterfalls but no photos have been uploaded yet and the coordinates given place it in a field above the gill just west of Low Lathe. . . further investigations are obviously required!
Now, for more muck-spreading . . . this agricultural practice of spraying fields with liquid manure, will effectively be completely banned under 2019 government plans to reduce air pollution.
Animal manure is a key source of ammonia, a powerful pollutant that, combined with other chemicals in the air, form fine particles that can lodge deep in the lungs. This can be very harmful, particularly for those already vulnerable, and can also have a detrimental impact on biodiversity as wildlife is also affected.
The stench from muck-spreading frequently leads to public complaints to local authorities. Current codes of practice advises that manures should be incorporated into the soil (by ploughing or cultivation) within 24 hours of spreading in order to reduce odours.
The plans include a new focus on emissions of ammonia, along with measures to reduce pollution from wood-burning stoves and other fuels. Critics said the plans were inadequate to the scale of the problem and were not legally binding, unlike the EU rules they will replace. Ammonia emissions, over 80% of which come from agriculture, are increasing, especially with the rise of intensive farming/mega-farms.
Ways of reducing them on farms require changes to widespread practices: instead of spraying fields with slurry – a method known as 'splash plate' – farmers can use more modern methods that create less diffusion, targeting manure to the areas where it is needed. Slurry can be distributed into narrow, evenly spaced rows or injected into the soil, where its fertilising impact is most effective and its exposure to the air much less.
From 2025 farmers will have to spread slurry and digestate using only low-emission spreading equipment, such as trailing shoe, trailing hose or injection. Spreading of organic manure, such as slurry, provides crop nutrients and can replace the use of inorganic fertilisers. Use of slurry in this way is a good example of resource use efficiency, provided best practice is used. Substantial investments into farm infrastructure and equipment that will be needed.
More recently in March 2022, the recent ban on autumn muck-spreading (imposed in August 2021) is being reviewed by ministers as part of efforts to prevent a slump in food production sparked by a global shortage of fertiliser. Farmers have asked the Government to change the rules over fears that soaring gas prices could lead to some food shortages and hit their profits.
See here and here for short videos on muck-spreading.
