The place

These uplands are old, worn-down hills shaped by ice, rain and wind. In the wet Atlantic climate, peat has built up for thousands of years over granite, sandstone and shale, forming blanket bog that covers the ground like a sponge. You see wide skylines of heather, purple in late summer, cotton grass, bracken and grey rock, with streams stained brown by peat. Weather is changeable, with low cloud, drizzle and strong winds. In spring the moors fill with the calls of curlew, golden plover and skylark. Stone walls, sheep and scattered farmsteads mark the edges, and many hills are bare of trees.

History

After the last ice age, much of this land was covered by woodland. From the Mesolithic and especially the Neolithic and Bronze Age, people cleared trees for grazing and farming, and the wetter climate and cleared ground helped peat spread. Stone circles, cairns and field systems survive under the peat. In the medieval and early modern periods, the uplands were common grazing for villages, with summer shielings and transhumance. Enclosure and, in Scotland, the Highland Clearances pushed many people off the land in favour of sheep and later sporting estates. In the 20th century, access campaigns such as the 1932 Kinder Scout mass trespass helped open the moors to walkers.

Why it matters for the living world

Peatlands in these uplands store large amounts of carbon, often more per hectare than forests, as long as they stay wet. Sphagnum mosses build the peat and hold water, slowing floods and feeding rivers that supply drinking water to many towns. The moors are home to breeding waders such as curlew, golden plover and dunlin, birds of prey such as merlin and hen harrier, and plants like sundews, bog asphodel and cloudberry. Coastal heaths in Norway and Atlantic oakwoods in sheltered valleys add further habitats. The Flow Country in northern Scotland, one of the largest blanket bog systems in the world, became a World Heritage Site in 2024.

People of the place

Upland farmers, crofters and shepherds have shaped these hills for generations, often with hardy local breeds of sheep and cattle. Common grazing rights still exist in many places, and in Scotland crofting communities hold specific land rights won after the 19th century land struggles. Some moors are owned by large estates managed for grouse shooting or deer stalking, while others belong to water companies, conservation charities or the state. Walkers, climbers and visitors come in large numbers. Community land buyouts in Scotland, farmer-led nature projects and peatland restoration teams are creating new relationships between local people and the land.

What it faces

Drainage ditches dug in the 20th century, burning for grouse moors, overgrazing, conifer planting on deep peat and past industrial air pollution have damaged many bogs, so that they now release carbon instead of storing it. Climate change brings drier summers and more wildfires on the moors. Breeding waders and the hen harrier have declined, the harrier partly through illegal persecution. Wind farms and tracks on peat raise questions about carbon balance. Large restoration programmes are blocking drains, replanting sphagnum and rewetting bare peat, for example in the Peak District and South Pennines, and some countries have moved to restrict burning on deep peat.

Sources

Written for Regenerative Voices from the sources above. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.