Now, I would be the first to admit that peat cutting is a dying tradition but for those of us still left, it is a way of life - for a few weeks in the summer at any rate.

Several days of back-breaking work followed by more of lifting and loading the turf can provide sufficient fuel for a good, solid winter fire and there's few who would dispute that the smell of peat is a wonderful throw back to mother's home cooking on a hot griddle or a warm mug of tea and scone from granny's.

You can keep all your oil-fired or gas central heating, turf is the business despite the claim that its harvesting is contributing to global warming.

Try telling that to a countryman who has experience of 'breasting' or 'stanking' the peat before laying it neatly in a row in the 'field' and then 'castling' or 'footing' the crop prior to engaging the neighbour for the lend of his tractor and trailer to transport it into a shed.

Back to the weather though and this year has seen peat cutters in a tizzy over how to get the crop dried. From a promising April and May to a disaster in the following months, peats have been lying in soggy conditions and will not offer the same amount of heat this time round.

That's because they simply aren't drying and even though we have been promised better weather in the near future, it won't be enough to make a difference.

At the present time, people with any form of transport are in their respective Mosses fetching and carrying the peats home. At least an oul dour peat will eventually burn if mixed with a bit of wood and coal!

Next year can't be as bad, we hope!



A change of subject.
Do you ever watch Eggheads? A programme screened on BBC 2 at 6 p.m. every weekday.

Challengers are up against a crack team of quiz experts including the world quiz champion, Mastermind winners and so on.

For quiz buffs, it's good entertainment, but the BBC really do need to catch themselves on!

For one thing, the standard of opponents is sometimes laughable. "What's the capital of England", Dermot Murnaghan, the quiz host might ask before offering multiple choice answers.

"Now, let me think. Yes, I should know that because I've watched Emmerdale and Coronation Street and I heard some of them say they were going there. It's Birmingham isn't it?"
That might not be quite as bad as I've painted it, but I can tell you that anyone who has ever watched the programme will know that the standard, at times, is truly awful and the experts need not think they are blameless. They get amazingly simple questions that would hardly test a fraction of their brainpower making the whole thing a mockery.

Wise up BBC and do the thing properly in future.