From February 2001 through to September 2001 hundreds of farms throughout Cumbria were struck with foot and mouth disease. The exact numbers of animals affected will never be publicly admitted, but informed guesses suggest some 20,000,000 animals were killed throughout the UK, many of them healthy, in an attempt to stop the spread of disease.

This website devoted much effort to trying to bring information from all sources to the public's attention, since tourism in the area was discouraged and in many areas - forbidden. This had a devastating effect on many rural businesses, who depended on visitors for their income. It included diaries and pictures from people affected by the crisis, and hundreds of links.

These webpages have now closed, but four examples and a picture are left for those who are interested:

• 'Silent Spring, Silent Summer, Silent Autumn?' - Nick Green.
• An Open Letter To The People Of Cumbria - Annie Mawson.
• 'Into the Valleys of Death' - Peter Frost-Pennington.
• 'Great Orton Visit April 2002' - Peter Greenhill.

Great Orton Airfield - the resting place of countless farm animals from the foot and mouth episode, despatched and buried in large rectangular pits, carried out under the efficient auspices of the British Army. The place is permanently monitored for seepage.

In total 466,312 carcasses, comprising 448,508 sheep, 12,085 cattle and 5,719 pigs were buried between late March and the 7th of May 2001 in 26 trenches.

A hidden wall reaching 12 metres deep surrounds the graves to act as a barrier to any seepage of fluid from the carcasses. Up to three tanker loads of fluid are still (2006) being removed from the site to a waste treatment works every day – 240 cubic metres a week.

DEFRA are now trying to promote the site as a tourist attraction - called 'Watchtree'.

An online version of Quita's book 'Fields of Fire' gives a chronological collection of the main events, commentary, views and feelings arising from the 2001 crisis.

Several books have been published documenting the crisis, and peoples thoughts on it :

Behind Chained Gates - By Moira Linaker Paperback 151 pages (March 2004), Publisher: Hayloft, ISBN: 1904524168. A very human story of an ordinary woman dealing with a lifetime of extraordinary events, including her protest at what she saw as heavy handed and ill-informed bureaucracy in the fight against the unseen and deadly opponent of foot and mouth disease. See Moira's website.

To Bid Them Farewell: A Foot & Mouth Diary - By Adam Day Paperback 247 pages (January 2004), Publisher: Hayloft, ISBN: 1904524109. This powerful book on the foot and mouth crisis is by well-known Lake District livestock auctioneer Adam Day, who was as closely involved with the outbreak as anybody working in the county at the time and whose anger at how it was handled comes through on every page.

Foot and Mouth Heart and Soul Paperback 208 pages (23 November, 2001), Publisher: Small Sister, ISBN: 0954154703 A Collection of Personal Accounts of the Foot and Mouth Outbreak in Cumbria 2001 edited by Caz Graham of BBC Radio Cumbria. It tells the story of foot and mouth in Cumbria in the words of people who know how it’s really been: farmers, hoteliers, a GP, a slaughter man, school children, help-line workers and many others. More information.

Fields of Fire - By Jacquita Maria Allender Paperback 152 pages, published (2002) by the author, ISBN: 0954363809. Quita, a familiar name from the Smartgroups e-mail network/website on Foot and Mouth, has edited and self-published a chronological collection of the main events, commentary, views and feelings arising from the 2001 crisis. More information, and reviews. Online version of the book.

The Year of the Pyres: The 2001 Foot and Mouth Epidemic - By Judith Cook Paperback 192 pages (November 2001), publisher: Mainstream Publishing; ISBN: 1840185503. The Year of The Pyres follows the story of the epidemic from day one until the time of writing. It documents how mistake after mistake was made initially, thus helping the disease to spread; how, for weeks, Agriculture Minister Nick Brown and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) kept on telling the country that everything was under control - until the water closed over their heads and they lost the plot.

The Death of British Agriculture - By Richard North Paperback 320 pages (September, 2001), publisher: Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd, ISBN: 0715631446. Even before the foot and mouth epidemic British agriculture was already in its death throes. Struggling under the onslaught of successive crises - the effects of the Common Agricultural Policy and the bureaucratic demands of the EU; food scares from salmonella to BSE; the spread of intensive farming and the concentration of buying power in the hands of the retail giants - British farming has been brought to its knees. More information.

Some FMD Links :

• Wikipedia - 2001 UK foot and mouth crisis
• Wikipedia - Foot and mouth

• Open Directory - Foot and Mouth Disease
• Open Directory - FMD government enquiries

• BBC News Foot and Mouth Special Report - including photos of the crisis

• The UK Foot and Mouth Epidemic of 2001: A Research Resource - includes an archive of links to press articles.

• DEFRA - Foot and Mouth Disease

• Report on the Cumbria Foot and Mouth Enquiry, Wednesday 8th May 2002 - featuring Nick Green's evidence.

• Various reports on Foot and Mouth from the independent magazine 'Sovereignty'.

• Warmwell.com - A site for foot and mouth comment, helpful advice for and requests for help from those threatened with 'cull', and links to many press items.

• Farm Talking - Offers help and advice to those for whom they or their animals are the victims of unreasonable treatment by Government officials or anyone else, during the foot and mouth crisis.

• Report on the Cumbria Foot and Mouth Enquiry, Wednesday 8th May 2002 - featuring Nick Green's evidence. (see pics below)

• Private Eye - 'Not the Foot and Mouth report'

Nick Green giving evidence at the Public Inquiry Meeting at Kendal on the 8th May 2002