Edition A new book gives a new area covered by gardens in the UK. Suffolk has been dropped with Somerset taking over as its area is more like the new garden coverage in the UK! WE now have Somerset at an amazing 4,171 km2 (1,610 sq miles in 2017) [used to be Suffolk 1466 sq miles 3798 sq km!] This is an expansion of 144sq miles and 373 sq kilometers! I visited a friend the other day because someone said ‘you have got to visit her garden, it is beautiful'. I have known this lady for a long time and she has had several houses and gardens in the area since I have known her and they are full of plants from all around the world. There are colours at all different times of the year and not a weed
The city of York may be well known for its history with its impressive minster, Roman walls, trains and Jorvic Viking centre but it is another Viking name which is just as important but totally missed by the millions of tourists and often locals as well and that is the word Ings. How many towns and villages around the country would have wanted one of these protecting them from the floods of 2014! Yes these are the ancient flood plains and meadows surrounding our river systems but the word is very much a North of England word given the long association with those Norse men over a 1000 years ago. York is surrounded by these Ings but only one to the north helps to save the 18,000 house under t
It was by chance how I came to start writing these children books. I was walking down the Newcastle quayside in February 2011 with a friend looking at sites for my 'Hadrian's Wildlife' book which came out a year later. We were amazed to see 2 Kittiwakes already inspecting their nest under the famous bridge. We carried on to look at the information board placed to inform locals and visitors some of which would be walking the now famous 'Hadrian's Wall footpath'. This goes along the quayside right passed the also famous breeding Kittiwakes! Across the river several Herring Gulls were sitting on the glass structure called the 'Sage'. For some silly reason I thought what a great slide for the gu
With snow on the fells and roads not so bad myself and Ewan decided to head east into Northumberland on Friday. The first prize was the fish and chips in Haltwhistle [The centre of Britain!] with a massive fish spreading from end to end in the box provided! The chips were good as well! I don't like eating them just sitting in the car so decided to drive up the Wall where Hadrian had made such a good job along the Whinsill with views across Crag Lough and Steel Rigg. This part of the road had snow and ice but with plenty of salt laid out on it so there were plenty of cars in the car park but none parked with the view I wanted so took centre stage! Both Susie and Woody our Border Terriers, wer
Since the invention of the gun, birds of prey have been killed to protect game birds, especially as driven Red Grouse moors cannot survive without the removal of birds of prey. The shooting estates remove predators, which produces a higher density of Red Grouse, so there can be a higher numbers pushed over the guns. With the invention of the ‘camera gun’ shooters no longer have to kill the birds they are aiming at. Built like a proper shotgun with optional ear muffs worn by the gunmen and women, with built in speakers now triggering the sound of the shot, saving the rest of the countryside the pain of continuous gunfire spoiling the peace, especially on a Saturday during the open season. The
We hear so much about bees being lost to the world but what about the humble dung beetle! This beetle was sacred to the Ancient Egyptians for the ball it creates looking like the sun itself, The beetle was found in Hieroglyphs [Egyptian alphabet ] and a famous large carved beetle is still found at Karnac Temple. The beetle is a big friend of us humans because by burying the dung it takes away the chance of diseases. In the 1980s it was so common that by every dog poo you would often find this beetle doing the right thing burying the poo instead of placing it in a plastic bag and hanging it in the nearest tree! What has happened in that time is that the farming industry and dog owners have be
Had a great walk this week at Ennerdale. I think I have only 'touched' the valley before by going to see Bowness Knott, a crag by the present car park where a Peregrine falcon used to nest. This time it was the real thing from 11am to 15.30 pm walking up the valley to see the present work in what is called 'Wild Ennerdale'. We [John, Thelma and Ewan] walked roughly 8 miles stopping and starting with Woody and Susie [Border Terriers] to look and photograph the landscape and discuss the management. The whole project is run by a combination of Forestry Commission, United Utilities, Natural England and National Trust and the idea is to rewild the valley over time. The valley is 9 miles long, 3.5
A New Year and New Blog! I don't expect to do it every day but I do have some wonderful days in a year and this was one of them. I live overlooking the Pennines in the great Valley of Geltsdale. I have lived here for 29 years [30 this year!]. I came to the area with the RSPB in 1981 the same year I married Thelma. We have 3 boys - Jamie, Tom and Ewan now 32, 31 and 28. More personal info will come out over the blogs. As many of you can imagine we have had a few wet days this winter! You have to go out when it is not raining! [I am writing this in heavy rain - indoors of course!] Well Sunday was dryish! So off I went around the other side of the fell to look at my trees. Well I call them 'my
