BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks

Subject: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: nutty
Date: 08 Apr 01 - 05:39 PM

A case of foot and Mouth disease has been confirmed at a farm at Ruswarp just outside Whitby (on the edge of the North Yorks Moors National Park). This puts the town within the exclusion zone but there has not been any cancellation of activities so far.

There is a remote possibility that this could affect the Moor & Coast Festival but I will keep you posted as soon as I have more information.

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 08 Apr 01 - 05:42 PM

Just when you thought things couldn't get worse!

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: Noreen
Date: 08 Apr 01 - 05:53 PM

Oh dear- I'm off to Robin Hood's Bay next Friday- can't get much closer to Ruswarp (pronounced Ruzzup... or am I on the wrong thread?) It's going to pretty miserable all around there at the moment, poor things.

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: nutty
Date: 09 Apr 01 - 07:40 AM

No more news on this yet except that MAFF are desperate to find out where the infection came from, as the nearest confirmed case is over 40 miles away. Animals on s1x surrounding farms are being culled and hopes are that this action will contain it. One worrying aspect of this is that deer roam freely in the area - will keep you informed of anything that may affect the festivals

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 09 Apr 01 - 08:01 AM

Won't be getting over the pond anytime soon but I hope the foot and mouth thing is resolved soon for everybody's sake. Kindest reguards, Neil

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: GUEST,distessed damsel
Date: 09 Apr 01 - 01:52 PM

Please God don't cancel the moors festival! Iit is the only decent music in this area and the sea is the only place to go!.My four sheep are like best friends to me(sad person)and I hope they do not get infected.

hears hoping

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: GUEST,Roll&Go-C
Date: 09 Apr 01 - 06:03 PM

We were thinking of traveling again in the UK this year, visiting friends in Bristol, running up the coast of Wales, but it no longer seems like such a great idea, given that we might be helping spread hoof and mouth disease around and then maybe bringing it back home. We're really worried, and probably more other people should be too.

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Apr 01 - 07:05 PM

Thanks, Nutty, please keep us posted. I thought M&C would be safe, as it is a @Town@ festival, but of course most visitors will come across the moors, so it doesn't look too good.

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 09 Apr 01 - 07:59 PM

If you keep off land used by animals (all of which is marked by warnings) and take note of any advice given at airports etc there is no harm in coming to Britain. You can still visit the countryside and look at the scenery as long as you keep to the roads and in the towns and villages there are plenty of things to see and do.

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: GUEST,Judy Predmore(at work)
Date: 09 Apr 01 - 09:56 PM

That's what I've heard, Mrs. Duck, & I have a vested interest. I'm coming from Boston, USA, to drive all over England in May, to go to the Holmfirth Festival, a bunch of folk clubs, & visit friends, & nothing's stopping me! From London to Manchester to North Yorkshire to Cambridgeshire...

Not looking forward to getting disinfected on my way home, but I'm getting some reasonable deals on airfare, etc. since so many people have been scared away, so I figure that's the price I'm paying for the good deals... (Airfare to England usually goes up in the summer, this year it's going down...)

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: nutty
Date: 10 Apr 01 - 03:42 PM

Got the Whitby Gazette today and it seems that unless any more cases are discovered everything is back to normal.
As with other parts of the country there is a conflict between those whose livelyhoods depend on tourism and those who live of the land
At present the "countryside is open " campaigners seem to be winning

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: nutty
Date: 10 Apr 01 - 03:43 PM

Got the Whitby Gazette today and it seems that unless any more cases are discovered everything is back to normal.
As with other parts of the country there is a conflict between those whose livelyhoods depend on tourism and those who live of the land
At present the "countryside is open " campaigners seem to be winning

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: bobby's girl
Date: 10 Apr 01 - 04:07 PM

I feel so sad for the farmers - my kids, who have been to Whitby festival every summer of their teenage lives, both stood and sobbed when they heard the news that the infection had reached Ruswarp. We can only hope it's all over soon.

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 10 Apr 01 - 07:31 PM

Judy Predmore are you going to be about on 18th May as we are having a big gathering in Yorkshire
Click here for details

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: Tyke
Date: 10 Apr 01 - 08:52 PM

I have just posted some info. on the Moore and Coast Thread!

Although I feel sad for the Farmers and even worse for the Animals. I can see no reason why the Moor and Coast Festival could or should be cancelled. Just follow the some of the good advice given in this thread.That will help to stop the spread of this virus.

Lets stop being paronid about foot and mouth. We are giving out the wrong impresion to people thinking about visiting the UK.

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: GUEST,Judy Predmore (at work)
Date: 10 Apr 01 - 09:13 PM

Mrs. Duck, I was considering the Yorkshire gathering, but disappointed that it doesn't work with my itinerary. I'll be in Northern England the weekend before, & back in London on the 18th, so even if I extended my trip, I'd have to drive back up to Yorkshire, & back down to Heathrow... I'll post my itinerary soon in a thread to see if I can hook up with some mudcatters while I'm in England.

Thanks for mentioning it, Judy

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: GUEST,Phillip
Date: 10 Apr 01 - 09:15 PM

FYI, the Canadian Port Authority has recently refused entry to a ship carrying tanks and other military hardware to be shipped to Western Canada for use in a training session at one of the military bases there. Apparently the tracked vehicles had not been cleaned and were extremely muddy. The ship was turned back to England after an offshore inspection. Subsequently, the training exercises for 6,000 British troops were cancelled entirely. The western Canadian cattle industry looks with great suspicion at the dragged-out measures being taken by the MAFF in Britain, and does not wish to have the disease imported here.

It seems to me that Britain would do well to ensure timely cull measures and strict enforcement of no-travel zones to put an end to this outbreak before it becomes a pariah in the Western world. If the British public is so unwilling to accept harsh measures and restrictions on their freedom for a relatively short period, it may be that instead of worrying about people coming to their part of the world, they may find themselves ostracized in other parts of it. Many others in Canada have severely restricted access to agricultural lands, shows and farms in general by British visitors.

Pardon us, but we don't want the havoc that your lax enforcement of regulations have wrought!

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: Peg
Date: 11 Apr 01 - 01:17 AM

I was possibly planning to attend a conference in Yorkshire July 7-8; any thoughts on whether the crisis will have abated by then?

Peg

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: nutty
Date: 11 Apr 01 - 05:30 AM

There is no problem ,Peg, if you don't go wandering off into the countryside. Just stick to the roads and towns and you are fine.

Philip - it comes as no surprise that the Canadian incident was not reported on our news. Like with BSE, it is getting increasingly difficult to know what(or who) to believe.

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: nutty
Date: 11 Apr 01 - 05:33 AM

It has been reported that the government are putting up another 6 million pounds to support businesses affected by the drop in tourism.

I would really like to know where all this money is coming from??

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: Linda Kelly
Date: 11 Apr 01 - 05:53 AM

You may want to bear in mind Phillip that placing restrictions on travel has already taken place within this island much on a volunntary basis, which has cost the tourism industry millions of pounds (just n case you didn't think we are taking this seriously). Councils have still closed many footpaths and bridlepaths despite Goverment wanting them to reopen. We are a very small island and do not have vast prairies where there is a small population and visitors can be controlled. Town and country encroach upon each other. Common land allows animals to roam freely and much of this is found within the boundaries of towns and villages. If Canada feels that we are the pariah of the western world well I am sure we are in good company, especially with those countries where foot & mouth has never been eliminated . since I have been to Canada and have no plans to revisit, I won't take your remarks personally.

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: Lanfranc
Date: 11 Apr 01 - 06:10 AM

You and me, Nutty!!

The UK is starting to sound like Biblical Egypt, BSE, floods, foot & mouth, TB, ....

What next - another Conservative Government! (Sorry, of course, we've still got one, in deed if not in name!)

The collapse of the tourist industry is certain to be even more economically damaging than the agri-business crisis. Ironically, the latter is more due to over-regulation (the closure of local abbatoirs because of increasingly stringent hygiene regulations) than laxity. The situation is further exacerbated by the central purchasing policies of the big supermarkets (helping Tesco make GBP1bn profits).

What can we do?

1. Support your local butcher (if he's still in business) 2. Holiday in the UK yourself - we're promised a fine summer. 3. Encourage friends abroad to do the same - few actually tramp around the countryside, anyway. 4. Boycott supermarket meat counters. 5. Lobby to stop the endless TV and newspaper pictures of pyres of burning and bleeding animal corpses - we all know it's happening, we don't need constant reminders. 6. Be especially nice to any foreign tourists you do meet. 7. Put Blair and his almost universally incompetent cronies in their place by ensuring that their majority is at least significantly reduced in the June election.

And when you've done and finished that work, go to town and buy lots of cambric shirts from Marks and Spencer.

Where is the Moses to lead us away from all this?

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: Joy Bennett
Date: 11 Apr 01 - 08:33 AM

Mrs. Duck -- Hi there -- wish i could be over for the gathering. I'll be across the big pond with The Johnson Girls in July for Warwick Festival, Bodmin Folk Club and Sidmouth Festival (assuming all are still running.)

Then again next January - solo -- for a visit with friends in South Wales and do one or two bookings along the way - confirmed is 18 January at Swindon Folk Club.

I try to get over twice a year -- mostly visiting friends, but sometimes performing as well.

Judy Predmore is a friend of mine up Boston way (I am in New York.)

Any chance you'll be at Warwick or Sidmouth?

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: Joy Bennett
Date: 11 Apr 01 - 08:34 AM

Hey Judy!! Didn't know you were making the trip -- sounds great -- will you be back for the Pinewoods spring weekend? It will be a great time!

Are you going to Pinewoods camp this summer? I won't be able to make it this year due to timing.

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: GUEST,Judy Predmore
Date: 12 Apr 01 - 02:40 AM

See - some of us American Anglophiles will go to England no matter what - F&MD won't stop us..Wish we could hit all the festivals & gatherings in one trip.

Joy, looks like we'll miss each other this year. I went to way too many festivals & weekends last year, so I need to cut b

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: GUEST,Judy Predmore
Date: 12 Apr 01 - 02:46 AM

See - some of us American Anglophiles will go to England no matter what - F&MD won't stop us... Wish we could hit all the festivals & gatherings in one trip, though. We'll just have to keep coming back, year after year, to hit them all...

Joy, looks like we'll miss each other this year. I went to way too many festivals & weekends last year, so I need to cut back, especially with my England trip. So I won't be at Pinewoods Spring Weekend, & probably not Mystic. I am going to Pinewoods camp, & you're not... Hmm... maybe we'll see each other at Pinewoods Fall Weekend...

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 12 Apr 01 - 09:19 AM

What a shame Joy this is the first year for some time that we are not going to Warwick Sadly before we knew about this F&M outbreak we had already booked a holiday in France. Otherwise I would certainly have taken our holiday in England to help the tourist industry. Glad to hear that at least 2 Americans are not put off by the current paranoia. There is a serious problem but with care and observance of notices about footpaths etc there should be no danger of people spreading foot and mouth and personally I think banning British tourists from agricultural events abroad is ridiculous! If the tourist is from a farming background they will be only too aware of the cosequences of carrying F&M and will have taken every necessary precaution and if they are not then the chances of them having been anywhere near an infection is negligible.

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: Joy Bennett
Date: 12 Apr 01 - 10:47 AM

Mrs. Duck -- Yep!! I agree -- and there are many more of us coming over for festivals this summer -- I'm over with The Johnson Girls - we're 5 women doing sea chanteys and maritime music --

then there's Dan Milner and Bob Conroy - both over I believe for Warwick. sorry you won't be there -- but have a great trip to France.

Judy -- sorry you will miss Mystic -- that's really a shame -- The Johnson Girls are making their first featured performer appearance there. We will even be split up for a workshop or two. And we're opening for Liam Clancy in the Saturday night concert.

Oh well -- looking forward to seeing mudcatters along the way at other festivals and concerts.

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: Peg
Date: 12 Apr 01 - 12:19 PM

Well, the conference I mentioned will be one day of talks indoors, and supposedly a day of field trips to nearby sacred sites outdoors, which may not be possible if the ban on countryside walking is not lifted by then (July 8).

I tend to ramble the countryside when I come to the UK...it would be a drag not to be able to do so...but I might still start to plan my trip and make the best of what happens.

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: GUEST,Adi
Date: 14 Apr 01 - 02:56 PM

Just this very moment I have returned home after spending the day in Whitby. The place was packed full of tourists. All the campsites up near the Abbey are up and running as normal, although the Abbey plains road was still closed (to traffic) after the cull of the animals earlier this week. I can't see any reason now, why the M&C festival can't go on. Here's to it, see ya all there. P.S I noticed on the way up though that the campsite at Robin Hoods Bay was closed for camping and touring caravans.

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Apr 01 - 06:19 PM

Refresh

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: JeZeBeL
Date: 14 Apr 01 - 06:34 PM

I don't see why people are so scared about travelling in England. I live in a little village in North Yorkshire and I have decided that this year I do not want to go abroad with my parents to France, I'm going to Devon camping for two weeks and I'm also goin to try to get to as many folk festivals as possible. I don't see why we should let this dreadful disease interfer as long as we stick to where we are allowed to go and stay off land that has warnings. Only a few days ago, I was outraged to see someone tearing down tape put across a footpath to the woods behind my house, in order to take their dog for a walk. What is the point of doing all this to prevent the disease from spreading further if people are going to ignore it and carry it around. They will be the ones who suffer when they get the huge fines though. But it is the minority who are making the situation worse for the rest of us.

Peace

Emma xx

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: Peg
Date: 14 Apr 01 - 08:54 PM

thanks for the update and insights, Emma. Why do you think people are so reluctant to abide by these rules for the time being? They must know it's temporary, not to mention important...

Good to hear it is still manageable to travel there as long as one abides by the local guidelines...

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: GUEST,Adi
Date: 14 Apr 01 - 10:17 PM

I agree, JeZeBeL, I'm a truckie that has no choice but to travel, but my hobbies are caving and cave digging and as I live on the Notts/Derbys border I can see where you're coming from. I've not been out in the countryside for months now, as in doing my part to help the prevention in the spread of F&M, but today whilst travelling between Scarborough and Whitby the amount of cars (empty) parked upon the side of the road was amazing, in an area that asked you not to stop or to turn off the main road, if this thing is to be beaten then everyone must act responsibly. The nearest festival to me is Stainsby which may not be on this year(the decision will be on the 1st of May) but what the hell I'll party twice as hard next year. And if I aint at Stainsby I'll be back up Whitby, so life aint that bad. Cheers Adi (tanked up & ready for bed)

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: nutty
Date: 15 Apr 01 - 04:21 AM

The difference is that here (in North Yorks) as in Devon, you are not talking "countryside" but "National Park".

Thats over 1000 square miles of moorland with no fences to control the animals (mainly sheep but with a fair number of deer as well)and keep them off the roads or away from people.

It will be pure luck if the area escapes with just one outbreak. If there are any more - particularly on the moor - it will become out of control.

Basically - if you can't keep the animals away from the people, you must keep the people away from the animals.

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: Lanfranc
Date: 15 Apr 01 - 05:27 AM

We regained access to our Sailing Club this week, under strict instructions from the Lea Valley Regional Park who are our landlords to disinfect vehicles and keep to our own compound etc.

During the last six weeks, while the area has been cordoned off, two boats have been stolen and attempts made to steal a third (power) boat. It is assumed that the thieves gained access by walking around the edge of the lake rather than through the main entrance. To do so they would have had to pass through two farms on which animals graze, including a number of rare breeds on what is normally an open farm. It is doubtful if they disinfected themselves.

You can exclude the reasonable people, but not those with criminal intent or the terminally stupid. Local wildlife is pretty hard to control, too, unless you impose a cull of rabbits, foxes, geese, badgers ....

I do not know the answer, and I doubt that anyone else does.

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: JeZeBeL
Date: 15 Apr 01 - 07:44 AM

Well said nutty. Unfortunately some people are too arrogant or dim to see that WE need to help the countryside/national parks initially so then there will be no more outbreaks and we can head back into the hills afterwards. It's all about GIVE AND TAKE, but all some people are doin is taking and it really is not fair. I love canoeing and we are under strict orders from the BCU (british canoe union)NOT to go out on the water. At first it was only if we had to take our stuff through farm land but now there is a total stop on it. I believe that the majority of people are abiding to this, but please, if there are any canoeists here, PLEASE follow these guidelines set out by the BCU as it IS for our own good in the end. NO-one in our canoe club is going out, although tees barage is still open as it is manmade in the middle of middlesbrough almost, so there are still some places for us to go if we get desperate.

Blessings to all the farmers and everyone involved in this terrible disease, and all the animals, we all hope that this can be resolved soon.

Peace

Emma xx

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: GUEST,Phillip
Date: 15 Apr 01 - 11:55 AM

This morning, Easter Sunday, the front page of our newspaper here in Canada has excerpts from an open letter written by Tony Blair to the citizenry of Canada, urging us to come to Britain and not worry about transmitting F&M. The same newspaper carries articles about Marching Season being curtailed or cancelled in Ireland, dude ranches in Alberta cancelling reservations from British tourists and various concerns about transmission of the disease to wild animals like elk and deer in our National Parks. British visitors have for some time been denied from visiting Canadian farms for 14 days by law but most farmers are making blanket prohibitions. Isn't the global economy a wonderful thing?

I personally think it is a shame that the country whose fertile fields had supplied breeding stock to the pastures and piggeries of the world now finds itself unable to react quickly enough to stem this disease this time and puts itself at risk of permanent damage to it's export markets. The sad fact of the matter is that Britain as an island nation cannot feed itself and relies on the rest of the world for a stable, clean, available and CHEAP food supply but seems willing to throw up it's hands in helplessness. If the entire country is deemed to rely more on tourism than on agriculture, I urge you to think back a scant 60 years when a hostile nation attempted to starve Britain into submission. The moaning about temporary loss of some freedoms expressed in these posts makes me wonder how seriously these matters are being taken. The defiant tones expressed,"Nothing is going to stop me...." are the greatest ally that the insidious virus has.

Are music festivals really more important than the welfare of agriculture and the life of Brtain's farm families. If they are, then "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!"

Subject: RE: BS: Foot& Mouth reaches N.Yorks
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Apr 01 - 12:38 PM

Its the government that says the countryside is open, when clearly its not. Where I live there are no footpaths open and everyone (or the majority) is acting responsible and keeping away, but people need to make a living and it is understanable that they have opened over the holidays. As for imports and exports this country could well be self sufficiant in its own meat trade, but hell that would'nt look good on the governments figures. As for foot and mouth they say it was imported from a load of cheap pig swill so that says so much for imports. 60 years ago the people of this country became united and stuck together through thick and thin just as they are now. OK we needed help and could'nt of managed it on our own but we stuck together and got through it, just as we will now. Nuff Said.