Today was the second time this week that you could smell smoke and burning over Rhuthun/Ruthin.
What was different this hot Thursday afternoon was that it was accompanied by minute motes of ash, as the smoke came in thick as mist. The combined effect was as if someone, somewhere had ignited a large garden bonfire. The "cloud" stretching across the skies over part of Rhuthun was much more dense than it had been in recent days, and lower, too.
All this from the out-of-control moorland wildfires on and near the Bwlch yr Oernant/Horseshoe Pass. It started in July 18th on Llantysilio mountain and spread to the Horseshoe Pass itself. It was sending its pall on the southerly breeze towards Rhuthun and this was noticeable from Monday 23rd July onwards.
The fires themselves have also turned into something of a visitor attraction, with motorists stopping on the roadside and long layby to take snaps. Why so many boy racers, though?
This evening, a fire officer, above, was seen knocking on the scattered housing immediately below the blaze. on the Llangollen side of the Horseshoe Pass.
Add to this the field fire opposite the trout farm near Llandegla, above, also yesterday afternoon, and the weekend's promised rain really cannot come soon enough.
Meanwhile, here is an advertisement for a Fitbit tracker. It demonstrates the parched conditions this summer. It would seem that the photoshoot struggled to find somewhere out in the country where the grass was actually grass-coloured.
UPDATE 27/7/18
The fire on the south side of the Horseshoe Pass has from today now moved round to the opposite side, above, and billowing smoke on the hillside is now clearly visible from Rhewl and other vantage points in Rhuthun.
UPDATE 28/7/18 5 A.M.
This morning, most of the house smells of garden bonfire. You could smell it last night and in spite of windows closed, the wind's picked up and the earthy, autumnal smell's penetrated the smallest window gaps across one flank of the house.
Smoke off the Horseshoe Pass seen from Lôn Spiriol Isaf on Wednesday 25th
