I was really surprised to come across these words of Mrs Thatcher: “We must remember our duty to Nature before it is too late. That duty is constant. It is never completed. It lives on as we breathe. It endures as we eat and sleep, work and rest, as we are born and as we…
BLOG POSTS
The carbon lady
Say what you like about Baroness Thatcher (and I’m sure you will) but she was arguably the first UK Prime Minister to ‘get’ climate change. Arguably in fact, she may have been almost the only UK Prime Minister to ‘get’ climate change. But there is a smidgeon of evidence that Enoch Powell was right to…
Guest Blog – You can be a member of the RSPB & a gamekeeper by Rob Yorke
Rob Yorke is a countryman with two hats: one as a chartered surveyor paying his mortgage, the other as a rural commentator passionate about an informed countryside debate. He has lived in west Scotland, north England, London and now permanently in south Wales. He stalks The Times’ letter pages but it’s cheaper to follow him…
Do you tweet?
Here’s a list of nature conservation organisations with their number of followers on Twitter. To be fair, many of the organisations have several (many) Twitter accounts for particular sites or particular subjects, but those listed here are the ‘main’, and sometimes the only, Twitter accounts for these organisations. @nationaltrust 144,824 @natures_voice (RSPB) 52,785 @WoodlandTrust…
Good luck looking for signs of spring
I’ve now heard my first chiffchaff and seen a common tern too (both on Friday). This weekend should deliver lots of migrants – I hope! The cuckoos are coming with Scottish Chance on the right side of the Sahara, English Chris is keen as mustard near Dijon although the Welsh David and Lloyd are still…
Ralph Underhill cartoon
National Trust worryingly quiet
This blog praised the National Trust for its consultation on land management in the High Peak. Time is ticking away and there is a worrying silence. No doubt the Trust has come under pressure from the shooting community, but those of us who are ordinary paying members of NT are also waiting to see whether…
Wuthering Moors – 30
Blogs entitled ‘Wuthering Moors’ form a series of articles about the Walshaw Moor Estate and its relationship with Natural England and Defra. Dear Defra I understand that you have sent your response to the EU Commission following the complaint by the RSPB about the way that matters at Walshaw Moor were handled by Natural England…
Lydd – bad news
Earlier today the Secretaries of State for Local Government and Transport approved the planning application for an airport at Lydd. The Secretaries of the State have found that there is development plan support for the proposals from LP policy TR15 and that, in an area where the prospects of significant regeneration remain precarious, the proposals…
Tilting at the RSPB
That James Delingpole – he’s a bit of a card isn’t he? His latest rant, which resembles quite a few of his previous rants, is about the RSPB supporting carefully-sited wind turbines. It’s well worth a read to see how thin the arguments are. The RSPB is making ‘hundreds of thousands of pounds a year’…