#TeamMercury3 Supports North Yorkshire Moors Railway

To mark Railway 200, our team joined NYMR for a day of bracken bashing, vital work that helps reduce wildfire risk & protect heritage rail 🌿

As part of our social value commitment, Mercury3 Consult proudly supports heritage rail – helping preserve its legacy for future generations.

This year marks Railway 200, celebrating two centuries of rail innovation. To honour this, our team joined forces with the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) to help their ecology team tackle a growing challenge – wildfire prevention.

Last Friday, six Mercury3 Consult colleagues headed to Levisham North to volunteer alongside NYMR staff and local volunteers. The task? Bracken bashing – an environmentally friendly and targeted method of reducing dry vegetation near the railway lines, which can act as fuel for wildfires.

Senior Consultant and Social Value Lead, Paul Gill, who organised the day, shares his reflections:

“Our first group volunteer day this year took us to what I believe is one of the most picturesque heritage lines in the world – the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, which travels from Pickering to Grosmont and on to Whitby.

We spent the day with the fantastic ecology team at NYMR, led by Kerry Fieldhouse, along with a group of enthusiastic local volunteers, along with six volunteers from Mercury3 Consult (Phil Crow, Irene Femenia, Milly Foster, Niall Melvin, James Brownhill and me). Kerry provided us with valuable insights into the ongoing environmental challenges that heritage railways face, and the efforts involved in keeping the heritage rail industry ‘chugging along’.”

“One of the major issues affecting the NYMR is the increasing risk of wildfires. This problem has worsened in recent years due to the hotter, drier conditions during the spring and summer months. Consequently, several fires have occurred recently, spreading rapidly due to dry bracken along the lineside that has not decomposed under snow or rain.

As a result, a single ember from a steam locomotive can ignite a fire that spreads quickly across the moors. This situation occurred in May of this year, leading to devastating impacts on local wildlife and causing economic impacts for NYMR.

We were tasked with clearing a section of bracken from Levisham North, using the highly technical and complex system known as ‘bracken bashing’ (yes, we hit bracken mid-stem with a stick…), but it works! We were shown areas that were bracken bashed last year, which are now clear.

As tiring as it was on the muggiest of muggy days, it was such a rewarding day. We’re proud to have played a small part in helping keep steam locomotives running, especially during the year of Railway 200. (And I can heartily endorse hitting bracken with a stick as a fantastic stress reliever.)

Special thanks to Kerry Fieldhouse and the NYMR team for having us.”

This is just one example of how we bring our social value goals to life – through partnerships, community engagement, and a shared passion for rail.

👉 Learn more about our social value efforts here.