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…

I hope they sink (IV)

Something for the weekend Vice Chancellor? I’m quite sure that the Vice Chancellor of Cambridge University, Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, will have been thinking about his boathouse conundrum.  Here are some contributions for his weekend cogitation. It’s not going to go away – you are stick with a contentious issue.  Sometimes it’s tempting to think…

I hope they sink (III)

This is the third blog on the subject of the Cambridge University Boat Club’s misguided plans to erect their new boathouse on a county wildlife site on the edge of Ely.   Today the Duke of Edinburgh visits Cambridge to be at the launch of the Cambridge Conservation Initiative.  Prince Philip was the Chancellor of…

I hope they sink (II)

The Beds, Cambs and Northants Wildlife Trust has really got stuck in to the Cambridge University Boat Club issue – see their website here. A letter has been submitted to the Daily/Sunday Telegraph from prominent environmentalists asking the Cambridge University Boat Club to reconsider its position – if not published by Telegraph newspapers it will…

I hope they sink

I was an undergraduate at Cambridge but I hope that the Cambridge boat sinks in Sunday’s University Boat Race. Why? Because the Cambridge University Boat Club is planning to build a new boathouse (although it is far more than just a boathouse) on one of the best sites for otters in Cambridgeshire, and its impact…

That’ll teach us – or not.

  It might not have been like that exactly but there is no denying that early experience of nature, good or bad, will influence adult perceptions.  I know that being introduced to wildlife and landscapes, very gently, by my parents was an important factor in shaping my view of the world.  And similarly at school…

Winds of change?

I’m not the best person to write about organisational structures because this is a subject that sometimes makes my eyes glaze over.  Sometimes, but not always, and so this blog deals with just that subject and on three different levels. Martin Harper has been dealing with the 3-card trick in his blog recently (here and…

Conservatives in Defra – not doing too well really

I can’t find the Conservative manifesto from the 2010 General Election online but I have my copy to hand.  Here are some quotes from pages 95-97 with my assessment of how Defra has performed in nearly three years of being in ‘power’. ‘The most pressing animal health problem in the UK today is bovine tuberculosis…

Moths – a bit more than just bird food?

I always look forward to reports from Butterfly Conservation – not because they are always full of good news but because they are always very professionally produced, always teach me something I didn’t know and always have the mixture of graphs, images and words that does it for me. Their latest report ‘The State of…

Last week’s news

It’s quite difficult to get past the headlines to understand the details of the EU budget agreement.  Yes the budget has been capped thanks to some good negotiation by plucky David Cameron but what does that mean – particularly for the environment? I bought the FT, Independent and Guardian on Saturday and found them no…