I wondered what it was like in Roman times as I headed up Ermine Street to the south bank of the Humber. The legions probably didn’t have to judge when to overtake a large lorry as they headed north from Lincoln, and when they got to the estuary they had to make a ferry crossing…
BLOG POSTS
Moving or not?
Is it just me, I bet it isn’t, that thinks the Earth Flight series is unmissable but also a bit tacky? I enjoyed Thursday’s programme, they were in Europe, and there were some very memorable sights: the polar bear eating barnacle goslings, the swallow catching a feather in flight, the cranes dancing, all those starlings…
Guest blog from NT’s David Bullock
My blog on Monday, which questioned the claim of the National Trust to be one of Europe’s leading nature conservation organisations attracted many comments from you. I’m very pleased to post here a reply from David Bullock the Head ofNature Conservation at the National Trust. I’ll come back to this subject, myself, on Monday. …
20:26 Vision
Have a look at the CPRE vision for farming in 2026. I wonder what farmers think of it. As a vision it’s got a lot of what I would like to see from farming – and of course you and I invest in farming to the tune of well over £2bn per annum so it’s…
Breather
Yesterday I spent the day finishing off the manuscript for my new book. So there is no blog today. But you could buy my old book, that would be heroic of you. There are some interesting comments about the NT as a conservation organisation still appearing on Monday’s blog. I did wonder whether to post…
What the public wants
According to a survey by ICMResearch for CPRE more than four out of five of the public believe that farmers have a responsibility to look after the landscape and wildlife for future generations – so most people are wrong! I don’t think that farmers have that responsibility but I am grateful to those who behave…
The National Trust
Do you think that the National Trust, which operates in England, Northern Ireland and Wales is a nature conservation organisation or not? In its own words: Conserving nature, for the benefit of everyone, is at the heart of the National Trust’s work. We are one of Europe’s leading nature conservation organisations. The scale of our…
Week 1
Tuesday’s blog was the most-read ever on this site – which surprised me a bit – but if you missed it, here it is. Wednesday’s blog was the fifth most-read ever – but if you missed it, here it is. Thursday was a very enjoyable day in Cambridge. I have only seen red kites on…
Blue, green and Goldsmith.
Zac Goldsmith, describes (in yesterday’s Guardian) the view of some in the government, that ‘addressing the environmental crisis can only happen at the expense of the economy‘ as being ‘a flawed position‘. He goes on to attack the ‘hugely controversial proposals to reform planning‘ as being based on a weak argument since ‘With some 250,000…
City of perspiring dreams
I spent yesterday back in Cambridge – I say ‘back’ because this was where I was an undergraduate and I spent many of my relatively youthful years in Cambridge and it has been a great influence on my life. I was attending the annual symposium (sounds grand for something that was so much fun) of…