FULLY BOOKED - Sphagnum Planting Day with Moors for the Future at the Goyt
As Adam Sackfield’s bare legs extended out of his car door into the Goyt valley car park, I thought… KMC might well be responsible for the first time, in Moors for the Future Partnership history, for a volunteer showing up to plant sphagnum in shorts. My job at Moors for the Future Partnership (MFFP) meant I’d been able to arrange for KMC to swap climbing for conservation for the day, and join Peak Park volunteers to plant sphagnum moss as part of a moorland restoration project in the Goyt Valley.
As we trudged up the hill to where we’d be working, panoramic views of the Goyt valley revealed themselves with wall to wall blue sky behind and a warm sun beating down on us, taking the chill off the autumn air. But against the backdrop of the summer heatwaves, it can be hard to escape the tint of enjoying unseasonable sunshine, that doesn’t feel altogether natural or healthy.
Just a few months prior, wildfires had raged for days at a time, burning through thousands of years of peat deposits laid down through Dovestones and Tintwhistle in the dark peak. The fires flooded Manchester with a thick smog that pressed up against our windows and choked us if we left the house. What’s more, the summer’s headlines of infernos raging across Europe were making the apocalypse feel like the new normal - the setting to everyday life.
On a good enough October day to be climbing outside, it was touching to see so many KMCers forgo the thrills of the crag for a quieter sort of meet. Maybe everyone just wanted to start unwinding from a busy season. Or perhaps people just needed a sedate morning before they were let loose on Chorlton for Mich’s big birthday later that evening. In any case, personally, after two month absence from KMC meets and Big depot with a dislocated shoulder, it was just nice to see my KMC buddies on a splendid day in the peak.
Jess P was particularly excited to get her hands on rolls of sphagnum plugs destined for a new life in the Goyt. And between planting plugs, Lewtas trod carefully between the hummocks of the moor, determined to avoid the next inevitable injury. Meanwhile, my colleague Neil and I meandered between groups: catching up on late summer ticklists, offering out chocolate and checking everyone’s planting was up to scratch on my site!
Sphagnum moss is the ecosystem engineer that built the landscape of the Dark Peak and laid down metres of peat over thousands of years. These peatlands are the source of our drinking water, a massive carbon store, the holders back of floods, internationally important nesting sites for rare and specialised ground nesting birds and the charismatic landscape on our doorsteps that we’re able to take for granted.
Over the last 23 years, Moors for the Future has worked to revegetate the bare peat that was stripped of sphagnum and plantlife by atmospheric pollution and performed these vital functions. With the peat now stabilised, our focus is shifting towards rewetting that landscape and reinstating the sphagnum carpet that formed it, so it can perform these functions once more. Without this work, there is no guarantee these peatlands will be safeguarded against the imminent and existential threats of climate change and fire.
The meet’s slower pace and the ample turn out was a nice reminder of the club’s softer side and the community it offers, as members turned out to give back to the landscape that gives so much to us. It was a good reminder to feel hopeful in the face of injuries or doomsday news headlines… that the world’s full of good people, keen to give back and contribute to something bigger than themselves. Long live the KMC.
Tommy Harrisson
