Harry,
Just one question: with all the rain that you fellows "over there" alledgedly have, how the heck do you get a moor to burn??
Perry,
Heather dries out very quickly, the stems being very woody and the heat generated usually scorches the other plants until they too are dry enough to ignite. The top foliage stays on the plant in the Autumn, but as all the nutrition has been taken down into the roots by the plant the foliage has also dried out and is very easily ignited.
The trick is not to get it too hot as the underlying peat may catch fire and then you have a real problem putting it out. In County Durham the moors are over very thin peat, with glacial clay beneath that. In Northumberland some of the underlying peat can be upto 30 feet in depth. Some of the best peat bogs in the world are in Britain, many have moorland vegetation growing on top of them. Burning is a skill and like many country crafts still in use, the secrets of doing it successfully take a long time to learn. I'm happy top leave it to the experts. Without correct moorland management the Grouse would soon become extinct.
Harry
