Grey squirrels were introduced to Britain by people, yet they now threaten native red squirrels through competition and squirrelpox. This article asks whether returning pine martens could restore the balance more naturally than repeated culling. Drawing on research and observations from Cumbria, it also explores how woodland structure, grazing pressure and regeneration may shape the future of red squirrels on a changing landscape, while asking how far we should intervene in n

Recently, I walked across London to a conference on food and national security. It seemed to take forever - 75 minutes in reality - but I did see the yellowness of Hyde Park. I saw not one blade of green grass...

The Lake District is famous for rain, yet the summer of 2026 has shown how vulnerable even this wet landscape can be to prolonged heat and drought. On Rough Sides, Scandale Beck has become shallow, young trees show leaf stress, sheep seek shade beneath bracken and even wooden gates have shrunk. What do these small changes tell us about a warming climate, and how should they influence the way we manage our land?

A traditional hay meadow may become a flood-storage area to protect communities downstream, highlighting the difficult choices behind modern flood mitigation. As climate change, development and altered land management increase flood risk, Britain faces complex decisions balancing engineering, natural flood management, farming, biodiversity and fairness. The greatest challenge is not simply controlling rivers, but deciding where floodwater should safely be allowed to go.

Millions of people visit the Lake District every year to enjoy its mountains, wildlife and freedom to roam. Most leave with positive memories and little intention of causing harm. Yet every stone removed from a wall, every gate left open, every dog allowed to roam and every piece of litter left behind can have consequences. This article explores the hidden environmental cost of countryside access and asks how visitors can help protect the landscapes they love.

Explore the hidden world of dry stone walls, from Cumbria’s Lake District to global landscapes. Discover their role in folklore, ecology, and cultural history, and why these ancient boundaries still shape how we understand land, memory, and myth today.

From my Lake District land, I watch failed plantings - fallen tubes, dead saplings, good intentions undone. Planting is easy but establishment is everything. Survival depends on soil, water, weather, protection, and care over the years. Fewer trees, well-established, matter more than many planted and lost.

It is easy to think that green space, open space, even the wide blue sea, is good for one’s health. In some respects, this may be the case. In others, it may not. Let us have a look...

An exploration of ptaquiloside in bracken, how it moves through upland water and soil, and what this quiet chemistry means for walkers and landscapes.

Standing on my land in the Lake District on a clear night, and I do that as much as I can, it is still possible to see the Milky Way. The skylines of the surrounding fells are dark, the only lights being a possible farmhouse in the valley, the brilliant glow from Ambleside, or a scatter of vehicle headlights moving along the region’s roads. Yet even here, the night is no longer what it once was.

A reflective journey through oak ecology, mythology, medicine and climate change in the Lake District — revealing why oaks thrive in company and why they matter now more than ever.

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is a captivating wildflower whose vivid beauty masks a complex identity - at once a vital pollinator plant, a pioneer species in regenerating landscapes, a source of life-saving cardiac medicine, and a symbol of enchantment, danger, and death in folklore - reminding us that Nature’s gifts are rarely simple and often walk the line between healing and harm.

While clearing bracken on my Cumbrian land, I heard a cuckoo - its persistent call inspired this reflection on its ecological and cultural significance. The Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is a brood parasite, migrates vast distances, and is declining in the UK. It symbolises spring, trickery, and longing across cultures. As an evolutionary marvel and ecological indicator, it deserves urgent conservation attention.

Explore the complex role of bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) in the Lake District - its ecological benefits, biodiversity threats, and the challenge of managing its spread.

The hawthorn is both wicked and welcome - its thorns draw blood, yet it nurtures ecosystems, hearts, and heritage. Revered in folklore, medicine, and conservation, it supports biodiversity, stabilises soil, and symbolises both fertility and boundaries. This enduring tree bridges science and myth, offering shelter, sustenance, and stories across centuries.

A visit to Kew Gardens' Shirley Sherwood Gallery unexpectedly transported me into the living world of trees - through the brushstrokes of botanical artists. What began as an appreciation of art unfolded into a reflection on conifers, climate resilience, biodiversity, and why we must rethink our assumptions about woodland ecosystems.

The tree looked lonely, growing from the base of a crag high above the Lakeland town of Ambleside...

What is it about badgers? I know I am supposed to love the animals and offer them protection and space. Yet somehow...

The other day I received my chainsaw certification. I am now licensed to chop. Yet somehow, I feel uncomfortable.

What is it about dry-stone walls? They are all around me, a defining feature of where I live, the English Lake District...