Ash die-back – plague or sniffle?

This morning I spent a couple of hours learning about Ash dieback, and other Ash problems (notably emerald ash borer (sounds nice – is deadly!) and other tree problems.  I was invited to attend a focus group (we were quite focussed actually) about how the public would react to various potential solutions to the problems…

Sunday book review – The Ash Tree by Oliver Rackham

This book was written in response to the recorded arrival of Ash dieback disease in the UK in 2012. Apparently it is the first book ever written about what is the one of the UK’s commonest trees. Oliver Rackham is one of the UK’s experts on the countryside, its history and its woodland and so…

Guest blog – Ashes to ashes – Peter Marren

Like you, I expect, I cannot imagine what the landscape will be like in, say, ten years’ time. My window on the world is in Ramsbury, in the upper valley of the Kennet in Wiltshire. We have long been used to dying trees. Death took all our mature elms long ago, and they have gradually…

Splash or soak?

Easter Monday could have been spent looking for migrant birds, spotting some spring butterflies or going to the races at Huntingdon – or all three.  But the heavy rain made each an unappealing prospect. The rain fell against the window behind my back as I sat at the computer deleting emails, unfollowing people on Twitter,…