Standing up for Nature
A week today the grouse shooting season opens (although because it’s Sunday there won’t be any shooting). I wrote this book, Inglorious, to document the ills of driven grouse shooting and to help energise a movement for change. We aren’t there yet – but we are getting closer all the time. Thank you to everyone…
These are some words from Inglorious (written in 2014), they are the imagined words of an ex-gamekeeper writing of the demise of driven grouse shotoing p253-54): ‘In the end, with all that satellite-tag stuff, you could hardly point your shotgun at a bird of prey without fearing it might be a tagged bird that…
Hen Harriers in England have had a good breeding season this year – there were 14 nesting attempts, of which 9 produced a total of 34 fledged young. These 9 nests were, I think: 3 nests on United Utilities land (where grouse shooting occurs) in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire, which were guarded by RSPB…
Wildfire and Moorland Management The moorland above Carrbrook Greater Manchester has been devastated by one of the largest moorland fires in recent years. The fire started on 24th June and burnt for around three weeks covering an area of 18 sq km. The cloud of smoke was visible from space and residents had to abandon…
The RSPB announced yesterday that a female Hen Harrier (Lia), satellite-tagged in north Wales in 2017, was found dead in suspicious circumstances in mid Wales, near Tylwch, south of Llanidloes, in May this year. The results of the post mortem examination suggest that she might have been shot (although the evidence given is suggestive but…
That there is a link between lead exposure and violent crime has been known for quite a l0ng time, and is the subject of some quite extraordinary correlations between removal of lead from petrol and reduction in violent crime rates across the globe, backed up by plenty of studies that illuminate the potential causal links….
Going to Scotland at the weekend served many purposes: I saw my son, I picked up many cases of whisky (not all mine) which were purchased years ago but have now matured, I escaped the heat of southern England for the relative coolness of central Scotland, I had a brief look at the Strathbraan Raven…
The National Trust has announced that a nest of Hen Harriers with four chicks is on their land, on a grouse moor. They sound quite surprised by this: ‘We’re delighted to learn of this nest.‘ said Jon Stewart, the National Trust’s General Manager for the Peak District. ‘The hen harrier has been one of…
Ed writes about his e-petition to license driven grouse shooting. Twitter: @EdHutchings It was in India that I learnt the news that the Government had responded to my petition to license driven grouse shooting. The grouse moors of Britain felt a million miles away from the dusty śāl forests of central India immortalised by Kipling….
This is a lovely book. I really enjoyed it – partly, I suspect, because I have a similar sense of humour to that of the author and also because I am generally curious about life. The author goes for walks on the moors above Hebden Bridge (yes those moors) and his mind wanders widely,…