July 13, 2001
About 1,200 tonnes of ash from a foot-and-mouth pyre in Widdrington, Northumberland, which was being held at the Teesside Freightliner depot was loaded on to a train in 60 sealed containers and taken overnight to a landfill site in the Buckinghamshire.
July 13, 2001
Seventies pop stars The Wurzels are re-releasing their biggest hit to help farmers stricken by foot-and-mouth disease.
They have agreed to donate 50p from each sale of 'Combine Harvester' to a fighting fund. The move comes as the band celebrates the 25th anniversary of the hit topping the charts.
The Wurzels were one of the biggest-selling acts of the mid-70s and made it to number one in 1976. Other hits included 'I am a Cider Drinker' and 'Farmer Bill's Cowman'.
Tommy Banner, an original Wurzel who is now in his sixties, says the Somerset-based band has been busy doing concerts all over the country. And there are always a lot of farmers at their gigs. A spokeswoman for The Wurzels' record label EMI said the band was very keen to give something back.
The single, which has been re-mixed to give it a new electronic dance beat, is due for release at the end of this month. Cash raised from sales of the single will go into the National Farmers' Union 'Supporting Farmers in Crisis' fund.
Foot-and-mouth vaccination call
July 12, 2001
Millions of animals may have to be vaccinated unless Britain can eradicate foot-and-mouth within the next few weeks, experts predicted last night.
They painted a grim picture of Britain still in the grip of a foot-and-mouth epidemic well into next year, unless the Government changes its policy and vaccinates. Hopes that the disease would be all but over by now have been dashed by recent fresh outbreaks in North Yorkshire.
Latest Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) statistics show there has been an average of three new cases a day for the last two weeks with North Yorkshire at the epicentre.
But the refusal of foot-and-mouth to disappear altogether has raised concerns it could last into the autumn - with the return of the cold, wet weather providing ideal conditions for new outbreaks.
Defra has declined to predict when the disease could be eradicated, but microbiologist Derek Ellwood, visiting professor at Newcastle University, said if it was still around by the autumn then vaccination would have to be reconsidered.
Professor of rural economy Philip Lowe says a continuation of the disease over the winter would have serious implications for an already hard-hit rural economy.
Meanwhile, the Government is coming under pressure to scale down plans to re-open footpaths. There were calls yesterday for blanket closure orders to remain in force across the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales National Parks, as well as in the Thirsk area where a new cluster of cases has developed.
A quarter of the county's network of 9,000km of footpaths have been re-opened, but the Government wants all closure orders lifted by Friday next week.
July 10, 2001
Foot-and-mouth disease was last night creeping ever closer to the Vale of York - Britain's prime pig farming area.
The number of cases in North Yorkshire now stands at 103 and pig producers have been put on red alert and told to take every precaution possible.
The Vale of York along with East Yorkshire makes up the area known as the 'pig belt'. Tens of thousands of pigs are bred on farms there.
Meanwhile, footpaths in Upper Teesdale have been re-opened to the public with preparations underway to re-open paths in Weardale.
July 8, 2001
The worst fears of farmers were confirmed at the weekend when foot-and-mouth disease spread to a further three farms in the Vale of York, one of the North-East's leading agricultural areas.
They had been braced for the worst after the disease was confirmed at Manor Farm, Kirby Knowle, near Thirsk, on Thursday. Around 2,000 sheep and lambs and 188 cattle were slaughtered on the estate. Animals were also culled on 14 neighbouring farms in a bid to halt the spread of the disease.
But over the weekend, foot-and-mouth was confirmed at a further three farms in the vale - and the slaughter spread to a further half a dozen farms neighbouring the new cases.
The disease is also continuing to spread at Lealholm, near Whitby, where a case was confirmed at Fryup End Farm on Thursday, resulting in 102 cattle being slaughtered, as well as livestock on five neighbouring farms.
A further case was confirmed on Saturday, at Wilks Farm, where 505 cattle were slaughtered.
June 6, 2001
A mass screening programme is being set up for foot-and-mouth slaughter workers after three soldiers involved in the cull were diagnosed with the rare disease Q Fever.
The disease, which has flu-like symptoms, is not normally serious but the three soldiers have been treated in hospital. Screening for Q Fever is now being offered to all Army and civilian personnel - including vets, slaughtermen, farmers, their families and their staff - who have been in contact with animals on the farms concerned and who are suffering relevant symptoms.
The last serious outbreak of Q Fever in Britain was near Birmingham in 1989 when 147 people were affected. A total of 75 people caught the fever in England and Wales last year.
* Foot-and-mouth disease has struck again in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales - more than two months after the last recorded infection.
There were fears last night that the fresh case could re-infect Wensleydale where farmers and businesses were just beginning to overcome the epidemic's devastating effects.
Slaughtermen culled stock in Bishopdale, just a few miles from Aysgarth, after the infection was confirmed yesterday.
* Meanwhile, preparations are under way to bring more than 3,000 tonnes of ash from a Northumberland carcass pyre to Teesside for storage.
The ash, from a burial site near Widdrington, will be transported in 15 sealed lorries, transferred to rail containers and taken to the Freightliner site at Wilton, near Redcar.
Last night, it was unclear how long the ash will be stored there. It will eventually be taken by rail to a mass landfill site thought to be in the South-East of England.
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Read more:
13-07-01
Wurzels back farmers' fighting fund
12-07-01
Foot-and-mouth vaccination call
10-07-01
Pig farmers on red alert
08-07-01
Disease in Vale of York
26-06-01
Soldiers catch Q Fever
read on
Have your say
Do you have views on this subject? Click on the link to write to me and share them!
Write to Sue
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Copyright (c) 2000-2001 Sue Kelly. TASTES OF. . .