Covid 19 and the Fire Retreat

Dear friends near and far

We are sorry that it has taken so long to send this newsletter from the centre of a wild fire that has been raging through the Hatfield Moor and the Lindholme Hall estate for the last 6 days.

We are just drawing breath and it feels as if we are under siege as we have steadily been surrounded on three sides by fire and fired areas that repeatedly ignite. Currently we estimate that 40% of the Moor is
burnt and 25 acres of the Lindholme island have been burnt.

The small community here, Khenpo Tokpa Tulku, Will David, Paulette have been one pointedly occupied keeping the community safe as well as actively engaged strategy and fighting the fire. Khenpo advised ‘To properly extinguish the fire we must focus on the 2 nd Noble Truth ‘The Cause’ and then we will see how to eradicate the result!’

Sunday 17th May

On Sunday 17 May a ‘manageable’ fire was discovered on Hatfield moor 1 mile or so from Gomde. As we were separated from the fire by a mile of water-logged bog, we were informed there was no threat to the Lindholme Island. Within 24 hours on Monday 18 May, with the assistance of an easterly wind the fire had traversed a narrow strip of vegetation across the bog and, unchecked, it reached the west side of the island.

The blaze was intense and fast moving through the woodland and the little ‘Covid-19 retreat community’ were evacuated from Lindholme Hall to Paulette and David’s cottage at the entrance to Gomde. We were told that the fire crew would protect the cottage and Scottish Power well head but there was not time to offer protection to Lindholme Hall, the meditation hall, new studio / workshop building or our retreat hut. It felt like a miracle when we woke the next morning to find in the night the wind had died down enabling the fire in the westside woodland to be extinguished.

Tuesday 19th May

Throughout Tuesday our feeling of relief slowly dissolved as we saw fires to the south of the island burning Moor and our southern boundary. Nothing seemed effective in fighting the fire especially as fire crews were hampered by the lack of available water. Peatland fires are notoriously difficult to manage as the ground itself is flammable and although flames are extinguished the ‘fire’ continues underground only to later be fanned by wind into further blazes.

Wednesday 20th May

On Wednesday 20 with help of Alex and Daniel, we decided to begin digging our own fire breaks to protect the island based upon ‘2 nd noble truth causal studies’ of the wind, the location of the ever developing Moor fires and smouldering peat fires on the island. Our plan was to protect the east side of Gomde from smouldering fires on the south tip of the island. Our reason: a fire on our east side would deliver fire to the retreat hut, studio/ workshop building and thereafter to the Lindholme Old Moor ‘LOM’. LOM is considered to be the rarest and richest ecological part of the Hatfield moor; owned by Gomde and managed by a specialist team of expert volunteers. Its loss would be ecologically significant.

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On Wednesday evening it felt unreal to see that the Moors to the south east and east of the island were ablaze despite the fact that many fire crews were proactively fighting the fire. It was at this point that we all began to feel a deep concern about ‘the result’ and began to question the strategy and resources used to fight the fire. But where was the cavalry?

A multi- agency response

Since 2019 Gomde has developed an extremely positive relationship with Doncaster council and we have worked together on a number of initiatives including the Navigating Ecological tragedy retreat early in 2020.

In Sept 2019 Michele Nevarez (CEO of Goleman EI) and a Trustee of Gomde UK, provided Doncaster Council leadership team with EI training here at Gomde and strong bonds were made. It was by chance that on Wednesday 20 May Damian Allen, CEO of Doncaster Council, sent a message asking how we were being affected by the fire. A short email explained our concerns and by Thursday morning the priority of the fire on Hatfield Moor had been upgraded necessitating a multi- agency response and things started happening.

Better access to water (one fireman stated “It will be like we have our own water main”) development of a multi-agency strategy for containing the fire, helicopter water drops, active use of fire breaks using bulldozers, mulchers and chain saws and LOTS of fire crews from several districts including Manchester, Lincoln, South Yorkshire and Derbyshire. It suddenly seems possible that the north end of the Hatfiled Moor where the cranes nest and LOM may be saved and Lindholme island kept largely intact. I explained to Damian when he visited the site on Friday that Rinpoche was praying for us and so miracles were possible. Damian replied “It looks like the prayers have worked.”

We will keep updated daily through Instagram and Facebook. We are working on analytical meditation regarding ‘Form is emptiness’- Khenpo instructed us to look what pushed our buttons; the last days have given us many opportunities.

May all the remaining wildlife on the Moor be safe. May the fire be extinguished soon and may the habitat recover swiftly.

With love from ‘The Covid 19 Retreat Community’ at Gomde Lindholme Hall