Foot and mouth last time around lasted February to October here in Cumbria. It was devastating to our rural communities and the emotional after-effects, and economic effects, are still there in farming families.

My heart leapt into my mouth when I heard the news of another outbreak, and I sincerely hope lessons have been learned from last time - no more pyres belching smoke and the disgusting smell of burning cattle, or heaps of dead sheep lying just inside field gates waiting to be taken off to the mass burial grounds at Great Orton - a village which has barely recovered. Then followed months of empty silent fields throughout the countryside...

There was mass closure of the countryside in 2001, and walks in the Lake District either closed, or people severely discouraged from walking. There was a degree of unnecessary panic and people were perhaps over-cautious. On the other hand, our Cumbrian native Herdwick sheep on the open fells were decimated by the culling, and the farmers appreciated the concern and consideration from the general populace.

I should not have thought FMD ought to affect folk festivals, but if it spreads then people will again no doubt want to be very cautious -and folk festivals will be the least of everyone's worries.