From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

h/t Ian Magness

No, it’s not April 1st:

The Brecon Beacons are to be renamed over concerns that the word “beacon” is out of step with the fight against climate change.

The national park will now be officially referred to as the “Bannau Brycheiniog” National Park, granting the landscape a Welsh name, and steering clear of any associations with historical signal fires.

Officials said the symbol of a flaming beacon emitting carbon “does not fit with the ethos” of the national park as an eco-friendly organisation.

However, on Sunday night, a senior Conservative source attacked the decision as “pure virtue signalling” that would “do nothing to actually help the environment”.

Catherine Mealing-Jones, the chief executive of Brecon Beacons National Park, said: “We’re an environmental organisation. We’re trying to cut carbon and push to net zero. So, having a carbon burning beacon just isn’t a good look.

“We’ve had awful wildfires over the last few years. So anything that kind of promotes that idea that fire in the landscape is a good thing made us feel that it probably wasn’t the look we’re going for.”

The name change is in “direct response to the climate and biodiversity emergency”, and is part of a broader new vision for the park that includes onshore wind turbines and reduced sheep numbers. The park aims to reach net zero in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035.

The linguistic reasoning behind the name change has sparked fears in Westminster that a precedent may be set for changing names if they happen to inflame the sensitivities of environmentalists.

‘Is it April Fools day?’

Sir Robert Goodwill, the Tory chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee, told The Telegraph: “Next thing they’ll be renaming Burns’ Night.”

He said that place names like “Coalville” or “Blackburn” might be equally at risk under the logic of avoiding links to carbon-emissions, adding: “I have to say that I have never made the association between the Beacons and fire.

“I think it is more important to retain historical names as part of our heritage. I had to recheck my diary when I heard this ludicrous suggestion just to make sure it wasn’t April Fools’ day.”

There is no definitive historical evidence of warning beacons ever being lit on the peaks.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/17/brecon-beacons-net-zero-renamed-climate-change/