I met up with local(-ish) artist Carry Akroyd today to give her a copy of Martha – her artwork is the most striking aspect of the book, after all! On my way there I saw an amazing number of Swifts over one single field of oilseed rape. There must have been c500 of them –…
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Be an ethical consumer – turn your back on grouse!
In a week of grouse-related, Hen Harrier-related, moor manager-related, news – this is the latest, and potentially most important. Following the announcement of the location for the Derbyshire Hen Harrier Day event and the attendance of Chris Packham, and the sacking of Simon Barnes from The Times (which may or may not be related to…
I’ve given Martha a cuddle
I have a copy of my forthcoming new book, A Message from Martha, in my hands. Unlike its author it looks both classy and beautiful. There is something about a book isn’t there? Review copies have been sent out so I will soon know how the book is received. You can hold a copy of…
Heroes and no villains
Last week I attended the World Land Trust summer do and was elected as a council member. I try to avoid getting roped in to too many wildlife NGOs just because I don’t really have the time to devote to them and it is invidious to choose one over any others. But I made an…
Simon Barnes again
My blog, yesterday, about Simon Barnes’s departure from The Times caused quite a stir. It was read by more than 4000 people and received comments here but also mainly on Twitter. Opinions were divided as to whether Simon’s departure (and yes, I should have called a sacking a sacking, not a redundancy – but sacking…
Who doodles?
Who doodles through meetings like this? Answer tomorrow.
The curious case of Simon Barnes’s departure from The Times
Simon Barnes is a very good writer. I was at an event, organised by the excellent World Land Trust, where I saw Simon last week. Although I have met him a few times before, I don’t know him well, but I plucked up the courage to go and talk to the great man and we…
Another meadow
I thought you might be interested to see how the uncut strip of grass in my garden is getting on. It’s a meadow! It must be a meadow because a Meadow Brown was flying over it. It’s not quite in the Seaton Meadows class yet, but there were some attractive damselflies in it yesterday –…
Butterflies are so easy
On Saturday I had another visit to Duncan Farrington’s excellent farm. I was on the look-out for Turtle Doves as they used to be here but I haven’t seen, or heard, one for years in this spot. Duncan’s farm looks good for Turtle Doves to me – plenty of thick nesting cover on the old…
Hen Harrier Day in the Peak District – 10 August 2014
I can provisionally announce that our Hen Harrier Day rally will take place in the Upper Derwent Valley based at the Fairholmes Visitor Centre. Having consulted local people and the Peak District National Park itself, and having been advised by them, the Fairholmes Visitor Centre car park seems the best bet for us to gather…