Landslide victory for Farmers Weekly Interactive

It just goes to show that in the digital age a set of pictures paints several thousand words.

Farmers Weekly Interactive was sent some pictures (of which this is one) of an extraordinary landslide occurrence in Cheshire:


All the pictures are available in a slideshow on the site and the story is admirably succinct in deference to the majesty of the pictures:

Tractor Driver James Fletcher who works for Chester-based contractor Mike Harley, had a lucky esacpe when the field he was ploughing gave way beneath him. He was on the final run of a sloping field near Alvaney, Widnes, when the bank he was on collapsed, sending an estimated 15,000 tonnes of soil sliding down the slope.

Mr Fletcher's tractor and plough was carried a quarter of a mile, through 360 degrees, crossing two fields and ended up being half buried in soil. Amazingly, the tractor started again once dug out, but had to be taken away on a low-loader.

And the Internet is indeed a wondrous thing. Professor David Petley - an authority on landslides - picks up the story in his Landslide Blog and recognises the unusual nature of this event in the UK and pledges to investigate further. And so the story rolls on.

Fascinating.