As I drive the Crockanboy Road deep into the Sperrins, my gaze is drawn to the rolling uplands of blanket bog. At each slant of sunlight through the clouds, the tawny heights quiver with saffron and gold. On the lower slopes, the hedgerows are a steady blaze of bright yellow gorse flowers.
Crockanboy comes from the Irish, cnocán buí, meaning “yellow hillock”. It’s a name you could give to each of the Sperrins’ undulating curves. These modest mountains are the eroded remnants of huge peaks uplifted millions of years ago by tectonic collisions. Those collisions also forged the metal at the Sperrins’ core. In their dark heart, as well as on their sunlit flanks, there’s gold in these hills. But which is their true treasure?
Fidelma O’Kane is clear on that matter. With the Save Our Sperrins (SOS) campaign, she has spearheaded resistance to Dalradian, a US-owned mining company that, in 2017, sought permission to mine for gold in this area of outstanding natural beauty. Gold-mining can severely pollute both air and water. Among the many concerns of local people is the amount of water needed to process the ore, which risks dehydrating the surrounding bogland, turning it from a carbon sink into a carbon emitter. There’s also concern about rivers like the Owenkillew, home to a rare freshwater mussel, and potential risks to human health.
Eight years on, while legal arguments continue, Dalradian’s intentions have been thwarted by the efforts of the local community. Protesters have mounted a stunningly successful environmental campaign, mixing peaceful direct action with dogged planning objections, all leavened by irrepressible creativity and humour. These people appreciate the earth’s true value. As theirs has become something of a test case, they also feel a responsibility to other communities in a similar position.
I catch up with Fidelma at a local arts event in support of SOS. As the poet Cherry Smyth reads, we hear the voice of the Sperrins in her words: “A mountain makes the soul seen. / Its heart, if it should need one, / beats in a ruckle of boulders”.
I glance around at the rapt faces of the audience. The heart of the Sperrins is beating here.
• Under the Changing Skies: The Best of the Guardian’s Country Diary, 2018-2024 is published by Guardian Faber; order at guardianbookshop.com and get a 15% discount
