Sunday book review – Beauty of the Beast by Alan Marshall

This is a companion volume to The Artful Hare and is dedicated to the memory of Robert Gillmor. A book full of illustrations of British mammals by nearly 80 artists, including Gillmor himself. A feast of illustrations from gifted printmakers – what’s not to like? I came across some names I had not previously noticed,…

Sunday book review – Island to Island by Sally Mills

This is an account of an almost 2-year stint wardening the nature reserve on Aride Island in the Seychelles. Idyllic tropical paradise or small island community with plenty of difficult characters to navigate? Or both? Sally Mills worked for the RSPB in Somerset and, with her partner, she took the opportunity to see the sand,…

Rishi Sunak and the grouse moors

Our new PM does seem like a welcome relief from Liz Truss but that is more a commentary on how dire things looked last week rather than how brilliant they look now. Remember, Mr Sunak is from a grouse-shooting constituency – Richmond in Yorkshire. And he is, according to Shooting Times (a not always reliable…