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Country diary: The curse of multiple magpies (The Telegraph)
Tuesday, February 21st 2012
I must apologise to readers this week if the dairy, sorry, diary, seems rather incoherent. I’ve suffered a blow to the head (see below) and am also in a state of shock: after 42 years of writing, I have received my first ever unsolicited communication from a Member of Parliament showing an interest in the state of the countryside. It arrived after my last diary on predation. I hope I don’t have to wait another 42 years to receive the next one.
That same diary prompted a call...Read More
Could underground cables save our countryside from march of the pylons?
Wednesday, February 1st 2012
Some of Britain’s famous landscapes could be saved from pylons after a new study for the National Grid found underground cables are less expensive than previously thought.
The Institution of Engineering and Technology report found that underground cables cost ten times more to bury underground than building overhead lines.
Fifty years ago it was estimated it would cost 30 times more to bury cables underground.
Also...Read More
Expats miss Britain's countryside even more than its sense of humour
Monday, January 30th 2012
The Telegraph
Those living in the desert landscape of the United Arab Emirates long for the British countryside more than those in any other country, with 85 per cent selecting it as one of the three things they miss the most.
The survey by Lloyds TSB International shows that across all countries of residence, nearly half – 46 per cent – of expats miss the British countryside.
Our sense of humour was the second most missed aspect of life in Britain, chosen by...Read More
Top soldier is Countryside Alliance's new boss
Friday, January 20th 2012
The former head of the UK Field Army, Lieutenant General Sir Barney White-Spunner is taking over the reins at the Countryside Alliance.
Sir Barney (pictured with US President Barack Obama) replaces chief executive Alice Barnard, who resigned in November.
He is a writer and countryman and lives in Dorset with his wife and three children.
Sir Barney is a longterm supporter of all country sport, is a contributor to The Field...Read More
Farmers must take better care of our countryside - The Telegraph
Monday, January 9th 2012
Farmers must take better care of the countryside, according to a survey showing growing public concern over the loss of wildlife in rural Britain.
Farmland birds and species like dormice and hedgehogs have declined in recent years as hedgerows are ploughed up and more land taken over for intensive agriculture.
Now a poll by the Campaign to Protect Rural...Read More
Badger cull: the doubts remain
Monday, December 19th 2011
Even loyal supporters of the badger admit that the animals carry TB and pass it on to cattle. The method of control is the big issue.
'Something must be done. This is something. Therefore we must do it.” Thus does Yes Minister’s Jim Hacker flounder. The closer you examine this week’s controversial decision to allow farmers to cull badgers, the more it seems that today’s real-life agriculture and environment ministers are similarly grasping at straws.
Not...Read More
Rural broadband stalled, says Countryside Alliance
Friday, December 9th 2011
The Countryside Alliance says plans to bring fast broadband to rural areas have stalled.
The government named four pilot areas last year, but local councils have admitted that they have not yet started work on their broadband projects.Freedom of information requests were sent to councils in each area. The responses revealed that none had received any money from the Treasury, chosen a company to build their networks, or started work on them.
In October last year George Osborne named Cumbria,...Read More
Why game shooting is good for woodland species
Monday, December 5th 2011
Flora and fauna in Britain's countryside
SIR – A reduction in woodland management is blamed for the disappearance of woodland plants (report, November 25). Around 20 per cent of Britain’s woodland has been continuously wooded since at least 1600, and it is accepted that much of this precious resource exists today because of pheasants and game interests. More ancient gold emerges from the Yorkshire countryside
Tuesday, November 22nd 2011
Not everyone believes that the streets of northern England are paved with gold, although I do. But can there be any dispute about our beautiful countryside, after the third discovery of an ancient hoard of precious metal within weeks?
Hot on the heels of the West Yorkshire, or Leeds, Hoard whose secure future at Leeds City Museum seems almost certain...Read More
British Farmings Green Shoots
Monday, November 14th 2011Nigel Farndale
The Telegraph - 13th November 2011
Wodehouse once observed that it was never difficult to distinguish between a Scotsman with a grievance and a ray of sunshine. He could equally have been talking about farmers, who are not known for the sunniness of their dispositions.
Indeed, it can sometimes seem as if they are only happy when they have something to complain about. And there is nothing they like complaining about more than the weather, which is always conspiring against them. When...Read More
Do wind farms pose a risk to Wales’ national bird?
Wednesday, November 9th 2011
Anti-wind farm campaigners say that red kites could be at risk from wind turbines. Chris Kelsey investigates the truth behind the claims
The red kite is officially Wales’ national bird and with numbers of breeding pairs having soared from less than 10 in 1930 to more than 800 now, it is also a stunning conservation success story.
So when it is reported that these iconic birds may be at danger from wind farms, it is not surprising if nature lovers become concerned.
Anti-wind farm...Read More
Saving greys: don't demonise successful squirrels
Tuesday, October 25th 2011
Monday 24 October 2011 11.00 BST
Red squirrels suffered from deforestation, hard winters, disease and human persecution long before grey squirrels arrived here
Originally from North America, grey squirrels came to Britain in the 19th century. Photograph: Martin Bydalek/Getty Images
Like many, I find it strange and disturbing that the language used to describe grey squirrels is so frequently filled with bile. Phrases usually...Read More
£1bn ‘bribes’ for councils to push through developments on greenfield sites
Tuesday, October 11th 2011
Ministers were accused yesterday of bribing councils with £1billion of funding to push through developments on greenfield sites.
The ‘new homes bonus’ will go to local authorities that participate in a building boom the Tories say is vital for the economy.
Read more
Tory conference: Green Belt safe with us, says minister
Monday, October 3rd 2011
Ministers have insisted the countryside is safe in their hands
The Green Belt is safe in the coalition's hands - despite warnings to the contrary from the National Trust, a minister has told Tory council leaders.
Local government minister Bob Neill said he was "saddened" by the Trust's reaction to the planning shake-up.
And any suggestion he was "undermining" the Green Belt was wrong. Critics fear a new national planning system will give...Read More
Government breaks pledge to keep developers off farmland
Tuesday, September 27th 2011
Britain's best farmland will no longer be shielded from development, proposed new planning rules suggest, reversing a pledge made by the Conservatives before the last election.
Instead, the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which is generating fierce opposition from countryside and heritage groups, suggests that even "the best and most versatile agricultural land" can be built on in certain circumstances.
The change is evident when comparing the Conservative green...Read More
Hockney slams plans to build 'ugly' wind farms on the landscape that inspired him
Thursday, September 22nd 2011
David Hockney has criticised plans to build 'ugly' wind farms around the rural landscape that inspired his art, calling on people to stand up against them.
The outspoken pop artist made his views clear about plans to build turbines in Bridlington, East Yorkshire.The 94-year-old, who has been described as Britain's greatest living artist, lives and works in the area. He has drawn inspiration from the surrounding countryside for many of his pencil, oil, watercolour,...Read More
Hands Off Our Land: businessmen in support of 'creaking' planning system overhaul
Tuesday, September 20th 2011
Britain’s archaic planning system is driving investors away and threatening economic recovery, a group of leading businessmen have said in a show of support for the controversial planning changes.Read More
Britain's great asset, the countryside, should not be sacrificed in the cause of economic growth
Thursday, September 15th 2011
Letters
SIR – Building our way to prosperity with major infrastructure projects, as Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, proposes (report, September 14), is a short-term solution to the bad state of the economy that will have irreversible effects on our greatest national asset – the British countryside.
Why should the countryside be sacrificed on the altar of the greed and incompetence that has resulted in the national deficit?
What would Britain look like without a green belt?
Thursday, September 15th 2011
Plans to speed up England's planning process put the green belt at risk, campaigners warn. But what would the country look like without such a system?
It is, according to its supporters, the ultimate guarantee that the land is kept green and pleasant.
Encircling British cities and towns, it is more than just a set of controls and regulations - it reaffirms the British self-image as a country of rural, pastoral idylls that, in reality, the majority of Britons no longer live in.
Can you help Woodcock?
Wednesday, January 26th 2011
A new pilot study that is trail-blazing advanced bird-tracking technology is helping to unravel the mysteries of the elusive woodcock’s migration strategy.Read More
Just how good were they?
Thursday, January 6th 2011
How good were the great shots, were they as good as the records make out. Here we find out more with this great article from Fieldsports Magazine.Read More
Make Sure You Get Asked Again!!
Tuesday, December 7th 2010
"How to be asked again" is a must have stocking filler, look at the great reviews by reading more. GunsOnPegs Members get £5 Off.Read More
Great News for Black Grouse
Wednesday, November 24th 2010
A major scientific break-through by scientists from the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust on the fringes of moorland in the Yorkshire Dales has resulted in the birth of a new group of 13 rare male black grouse, after an absence of more than two decades.Read More
Who is Mr Pheasant
Tuesday, September 28th 2010
We all love seeing the pheasant, but who or what is the pheasant? Read here for more information on this iconic game bird.Read More
Grouse Shooting benefits Scotland's economy
Wednesday, September 22nd 2010
An independent report commissioned by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) shows that over the last 10 years red grouse shooting has contributed tens of millions of pounds to the Scottish economy and supported thousands of jobs in remote rural communities.
Habitat management and predator control are some of the key costs shouldered by sporting estates that support Scotland’s rare and iconic purple heather moors and upland birds. In the face of challenging conditions for the...Read More
Putting woodcock in the Frame
Tuesday, September 14th 2010
The GWCT are asking you to submit your records on Woodcock counts. A recent study shows a decline in submitted records of breeding woodcock.Read More
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