Barn fire 'ripped the heart out' of family farm

Matthew Unwin and his family have been farming on the site for more than 50 years

A huge fire has "ripped the heart out" of a Shropshire farm, its owner has said.

Matthew Unwin, who farms near Ratlinghope in south Shropshire, lost two farm buildings which had been built by his grandfather in the 1960s during the fire.

"There isn't a lot left, apart from the charred remains of the straw," the farmer said, adding that recent weeks of hot weather made tackling it more difficult.

The cause of the fire is not yet known, but Mr Unwin said investigators told him arson was unlikely.

The fire took hold on the afternoon of 7 August, with multiple fire crews attending from stations across Shropshire.

"Driving up the lane [to the farm] we could see the smoke from a long way away," Mr Unwin said.

"It was just panic, really."

Only "charred remains" were left of the barns, Mr Unwin said

Temperatures in the county were in the mid-20s that day, and Mr Unwin said the hot, dry weather made the damage caused by the blaze even worse.

"In the past, [firefighters] would have pulled some of the straw out [of the barn] and then wet it down on the fields," he said, but the "tinder-dry" ground meant there was a risk of setting the fields alight.

One of the burned barns was "packed completely with straw", Mr Unwin added.

"It's been a dry year, straw is in short supply - we thought we'd got all our supply in ready for the year," he said.

"We worked very hard over the last couple of weeks, but that hard work is now in vain because there's nothing left."

He added that Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service was "struggling initially to find water" because "all the brooks and ponds have dried up."

"They did find water eventually, but they had to have the Bridgnorth and Leominster bowsers lugging it to them which added an extra layer of complication," Mr Unwin said.

The second barn to burn down took with it valuable farming equipment.

"There's nothing left of [the machinery], they're just burnt shells now," Mr Unwin said.

The farmer added that it was "quite a shock to see [the buildings] in such a state", and said it had "ripped the heart out of the farm".

Mr Unwin added that his neighbours "have been very kind" and offered his farm straw to help tide them over in the short term.

"But ultimately it's 12 months until harvest 2026 when large quantities of straw will be available again.

"It puts our living in jeopardy."