The incoming DEFRA ministers, will soon have to make a decision on whether to ban the use of lead ammunition in England. The science is pretty straightforward, and has been reviewed by an expert group, but the expected recommendation, to ban lead ammunition, will be deeply unpopular with vocal interest groups. I had a part…
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Henry knows the Rules!
Henry asked me whether I’d had a reply from Rules restaurant about the provenance of their game meat and the amount of lead that is contained in it (and see here, here and here for previous bizarre correspondence on this subject). I’m afraid that London’s oldest restaurant, which specialises in game, is remarkably tight-lipped about…
Henry in Focus
Henry and I popped in to see the nice man at In Focus on the north Norfolk coast. Henry likes meeting people and I had a problem with my 37-year old Zeiss 10x40B Dialyt binoculars. The problem was that I had dropped them again! As Henry chattered away the In Focus man laid his hands…
Guest blog – A story of nature and human wellbeing by Andy Atkins
Andy Atkins steps down from 7 years as Executive Director of Friends of the Earth in June. He is taking a few months break to write a book and, if there is time left over, to paint a series of landscapes from a large collection of sketches. After that he plans to throw himself back…
Sunday book review – How to clone a mammoth by Beth Shapiro
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This is an interesting read. I like learning things and I learned a lot here. There is quite a lot of chatter about de-extinction – the process of bringing extinct species back to life through some genetic wizardry. Think Jurassic Park with proper science! It sounds far-fetched, and it isn’t imminent, but this book tells…
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
Where are they, says Henry.
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We popped around to see the SLE, Scottish Land and Estates, but there was no-one in. Henry doesn’t really get weekends. He had a look through the window and couldn’t see any sign of life. Henry asked me why there was a Job Centre Plus just round the corner and I really couldn’t say. I…
Have You Seen Henry?
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Left as a present by Henry on top of a grouse butt on Snilesworth moor. Vote for Hen Harrier as our national bird. #HaveYouSeenHenry
South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands consultation launched
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It’s good to see that yesterday a consultation was launched on the South Georgia and South Sandwich Island Strategy 2016-2020 to ‘stakeholders and interested parties’. I responded to an earlier consultation on the seas around South Georgia and I will be reading this strategy closely. There are no permanent or indigenous inhabitants of the land…
Retribution?
As Longfellow wrote in his poem Retribution: Though the mills of God grind slowly; Yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience He stands waiting, With exactness grinds He all. And maybe the same is true of the Rural Payments Agency who replied to me on my enquiry into how they are getting on with…