Forest fire

I just want to finish what Deborah wrote about her stay at Rickety Bridge before going on in my experience as a journalist to the next occupant of Rickety Bridge.
In an earlier note it was mentioned that firs had been planted on the slope to retain the soil but Deborah's experience highlighted that benefits come with responsibilities.

Two little boys from the farm one Saturday made a campfire and set the forest alight. Had the wind changed direction we might well have lost the house, so it was a few nasty hours. That prompted the beginning of removing the pine forest from the hill at the back of the house, and allowing the indigenous fynbos to regenerate. The pines had been planted ages ago and then not looked after so they were useless as a crop and a huge fire risk as well as being unhelpful to the original mountain flora.

It was all an education in itself, and there was so much good that could have been brought about had one been able to stay long enough.
The photo shows how the pines have been re-established on the slope behind the winery.

I've mentioned before that one stumbles across stories and this fire incident would make a great highlight if I were doing a novel about the winelands.Whether a literary agent would agree, I don't know. Two of the stories in Bees in my Bonnet were written to test the idea  but I was told, nobody buys books about South Africa unless they are written by Wilbur Smith.

www.amazon.co.uk/Bees-my-Bonnet-Short-stories-x/dp/1541345673/ref=sr_1_2?