The Kindest Cut Of All

Sometimes burning heather can be impractical or even dangerous, but cutting it can rejuvenate precious moorland, says Patrick Laurie

- Patrick Laurie

We often read that the demand for grouse shooting has never been higher. People travel from across the world to shoot on our moors and even late-season days still sell at extraordinary prices. Investment has grown exponentially, which is great news for the sport, but is now focused on a few small pockets of “grouse country” across northern England and Scotland. Having worked for the past 10 years on grouse in south-west Scotland, it feels like the big players continually get bigger and the marginal moors just wither away.

Fifty years ago, excellent numbers of grouse were being shot in Wales and on Scotland’s west coast, but change has smashed our uplands. Caught between trees and sheep, many grouse moors have foundered and died. In their wake, fragments of heather lay between extensive forests and the grouse were ground down into a handful of pairs on the edge.

As the big moors command ever more money and attention perhaps we are missing an opportunity on the margins. There are extensive upland areas where existing grouse populations could be resurrected, but perception is that this work comes with a crippling price-tag and few people have the stomach to attempt it.

However, projects in Wales have shown what is possible with a little investment and hard work, and there are similar stirrings of life in marginal moorland areas across the country. Much of this work is founded upon  the basic principles of moorland management, but some people have been taking a second look at the rule book and designing new techniques to suit modern limitations.