I recently read an article about the subject of English in schools and how it is currently being taught. It seems that in recent years there has been a revival of a blinkered focus on grammar and technical ‘jargon’ to the detriment of creativity, which is leading in turn to fewer people writing.  I am … Continue reading The making of a writer

Time: human-made. Measured in hours and minutes.  Rather a strange construct in many ways when you think about it. So many of us live our lives ‘clock watching’. Defining our days and activities in accordance with the hours-and-minutes version of time. In my experience, this kind of human-made time often equals stress and pressure. A … Continue reading It’s time – the eleventh hour

I took a stroll along our lane this afternoon. The gloomy morning sloped off after lunch to be replaced by a raw heat that churned the sky milk-blue and rinsed vibrancy from the vegetation.  Beyond a row of silent ash trees, the lane rolled steeply downhill, whereby the dry stone walls were exchanged for open … Continue reading Awash with butterflies

Although I limit my paper usage to the bare essentials, I have the potential to be a bit of a stationery geek. I just love the feeling of opening a new notepad; the sense of anticipation as the pen hovers over the unblemished page, and the self-imposed pressure that what I am about to write … Continue reading Nature Diary

Having run a number of ecology training workshops over the years, it is really exciting to launch an online series of presentations. The first few represent the areas I have been asked to provide advice and training on in recent years. My first presentation relates to report writing. The ability to produce a report that … Continue reading Online Ecology Presentations

The Arts and Humanities Research Council and the LandLines research team, supported by the National Trust, Natural England and the Field Studies Council, invited nature lovers to create a crowd-sourced spring nature diary. Each entry could be no more than 150 words; here's a copy of mine... It’s not to daylight that I look for … Continue reading Spring diary

"Afternoon was beginning to slide into dusk when Ember and Barley made their way back to the barn. The field felt quieter compared to their earlier visit, when it was alive with the buzz of insects. A blackbird sang a sweet solo from a nearby tree – a love song to the setting sun; its … Continue reading Book update