For this year’s blog we decided that following on from the COP 26 in October last year in Glasgow that we would focus on environmental actions that we can all take in our every day lives to do our bit towards reducing our impact on the environment. Whether that is increasing biodiversity in our gardens by planting flowers for pollinators, reducing our reliance on single use plastics or making more journeys by bike or on foot to reduce CO2 emissions. Each month we will focus on a different action. To begin the year, we’re starting off with doing our bit to reduce the amount of litter that is polluting the environment. (more…)

Like many people, my connection with nature grew stronger during last year’s lockdowns.  As we couldn’t go anywhere or do very much, I really began to notice the nature on my doorstep in that bright, sunny and terrible spring of 2020.  Day by day I watched the trees come into leaf, a succession of spring flowers bloom and the ongoing battle for food, mates and territory playing out amongst the surprising range of birds that visited our garden.  This nature connection both thrilled and calmed me at a time when the world felt full of uncertainty and fear. (more…)

Wandering amongst the autumn trees, I admired the blazing yellows, striking reds and vibrant oranges contrasting with the clear blue sky, with the sunlight streaming through to the woodland floor. Leaves whirled through the air, falling all around me as the wind played with them before letting them spiral to the ground to form a thick carpet beneath my feet. The trees were celebrating autumn and letting go in the most beautiful and striking way.  What can this changing of the seasons teach us? (more…)

Rivers have always felt like a bit of a getaway for me. The way they can wash out the noise of busy roads or warehouses makes it feel like you’re closer to rural areas than you are. I have always been close to rivers, whether it’s the River Aire where I live now, in Thackley or the River Humber and River Hull in Hull. I always found places for contemplation by rivers and walking along the River Aire is where I had the idea to write about them!

During my degree I tried to steer as much as my studies towards rivers as possible, which showed me the range of things we could learn about them.  One thing I enjoyed looking at is the movement of material, this could be anything: boulders, pebbles, rubbish or pooh sticks.  It’s easy to assign our binary day and night cycle to the processes in the world, as we go to sleep everything else does with us, but the processes are constant and are always changing and carving the landscape around us.  I’ve noted small changes in the land around the River Aire, changing meanders, steeper banks, how the flow changes. (more…)

When the days were short, the trees were grey and the soil was bare, we moved into a new house. It had a slightly bigger garden than our old one, and that made us very excited.  Big gardens are not really a thing in our West Yorkshire hometown, but it’s perfectly possible to make any outside space a haven for wildlife.   22 million people have access to a garden, according to Rewilding Britain (an organisation focused on rewilding and the benefits it can bring to people, wildlife and the climate) and, as they say, that’s a lot of land for wildlife and nature. But we Brits have a tendency to be neat freaks and that’s not great for nature, which really thrives in unkempt loveliness at the fringes of our gardens, towns and cities. (more…)