June
Lazy days
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STANDING IN THE WAY OF EXTINCTION
An inspiring and, at times, quirky story of those working to save our disappearing birds
BOOK
IN SEARCH OF ONE LAST SONG
In Search of One Last Song is a strange book. Is it about our increasingly rare lapwings, hen harriers and turtle doves and the conservationists helping them to retain a foot hold on our crowded island? Or is there something else going on? Yes, author Patrick Galbraith meets the farmer in Scotland who is fighting a losing battle against the decline of black grouse by running Galloway cattle to improve the habitat. It’s a hard business – traditional breeds don’t put on weight as well as modern ones, so he doesn’t make much at auction. And there’s Ilka, who monitors kittiwakes in Orkney, and explains how rising sea temperatures are pushing copepods (microscopic crustaceans) further north, taking the sand eels that the birds rely on with them.
That’s all good stuff, highlighting how difficult 21st-century wildlife conservation is, with plenty of absorbing details. Ewan the gamekeeper is an interesting character, too, though some of his wilder allegations go unchallenged.
But why Galbraith includes an encounter with a great-uncle on Orkney and a wild goose chase to Birsay where he watches swallows and wonders “whether this is the bit when I’m meant to feel like I’ve discovered myself” is not quite clear.
It feels, at times, as much a voyage of self-discovery as an investigation into wildlife on its uppers. Quirky, quizzical and occasionally querulous, In Search of One Last Song does reward the patient reader.
BOOK
THE PONIES AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD
The less-often-quoted line from Dr Samuel Johnson that begins “when a man Is tired of London, he is tired of life”, is “for there is in London all that life can afford”. This sentiment, extended to city life in general, is challenged by anthropologist Catherine Munro (pictured below) in her account of a year on the Shetland island of Whalsay.
Research for her PhD on human animal relationships brings her to the island and, as you read about its people, you learn life in this remote place has much to afford. Catherine’s personal journey fighting anxieties and insecurities, looking for a rooted home and mental peace, is counterpointed by the islanders’ relaxed way of life, strong family ties and centuries-old traditions. The descriptions of Shetland are evocative. The colours and textures of hills and sea come alive through sound – shrill, piping bird calls, the soughing of a ceaseless wind. The crofters’ connection with their ponies reveals a world of inter-dependency and deep, affectionate respect.
The slight jarring for me was the absence of knowledge about Catherine’s husband, who accompanies her to Whalsay. Apart from his name and the fact he’s a film-maker, which only emerges half-way through, he is a shadowy figure never allowed to come forward. This arouses a feeling of a woman making decisions and facing her demons alone.
Nevertheless, the book is a beautiful, lyrical read that will transport you to the Shetland Islands.
BOOK
DIVIDE: THE RELATIONSHIP CRISIS BETWEEN TOWN AND COUNTRY
It’s the people who make this meaty and consistently thought-provoking book. You would expect to meet some farmers–and there are plenty. But what really sets Divide apart is the impressive range of views in its meticulously researched pages. Everyone – from intensive pig and soybean farmers to vegan smallholders and pioneering converts to regenerative agriculture – talks candidly about their hopes and fears and the way of life they love.
We also hear from vets, fox hunters, parish councillors, conservationists, academics and numerous self confessed ‘townies’. I’ve never read anything with such a diversity of opinions about the complex, often fraught relationship between rural and urban worlds.
Anna Jones is a rural affairs journalist and producer for the BBC’s Countryfile and Farming Today, so knows her stuff.
Having grown up on a Welsh family farm but lived largely in cities, she calls herself a rural/urban hybrid and makes the perfect guide. A sympathetic interviewer, she tackles uncomfortable issues: what it’s like to be gay, black or liberal in the countryside, whether intensive farming is inherently bad, the future of food, gentrification, the right to roam, rural alienation, urban privilege and much else besides.
Everybody who cares about the countryside should read Divide, which ultimately is an optimistic book. If only we opened our minds and listened more, and rejected simplistic narratives and slogans, we would find much to unite us, wherever and however we live.
TV
PLATINUM BEACONS: LIGHTING UP THE JUBILEE
2 JUNE, BBC ONE, 9.15PM
The first day of the Platinum Jubilee will be marked by the traditional lighting of beacons across the nation and the Commonwealth. Around the UK, communities will come together to light more than 1,500 beacons to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s 70-year reign, and a principal beacon will be lit at Buckingham Palace. Presented by Kirsty Young, reporters across the country are covering this historic celebration, including Jermaine Jenas at Buckingham Palace, Gethin Jones in Wales, Carol Kirkwood in Scotland and Holly Hamilton in Northern Ireland. The broadcast will also include highlights from the day’s ceremony of Trooping the Colour.
BOOK
VILLAGER
I’m wary of novels set in the countryside or that seek to evoke nature. I brace for disappointment. Quite often the author’s wildlife knowledge is too earnestly or awkwardly showcased. Or glaringly lacking. When I read of dawn choruses being enjoyed on summer holidays, I get palpitations. This is not the case with Tom Cox’s spooky, swirling novel of Dartmoor. His grasp of the wild surroundings is secure, confident and restrained. His landscapes pulse in and out of a series of haunting, believable human tales, influencing character and action.
The stories of these flawed and often overlooked human lives ebb and flow through time, but each tale, though interwoven with an understory of a mysterious drifter-musician, offers a satisfying and gripping standalone episode. The use of the moor itself as a character could easily be twee or jarring but it works with Cox’s earthiness and irreverence. In all, a satisfying blend of tension, humour, mystery and sadness.
This is ideal summer holiday reading – to be relished piecemeal or devoured in one fell swoop, as I did.
FROM THE BBC ARCHIVES
In the BBC’s centenary year, programmes for its archives are being made available once more. The BBC Programme Index is a searchable database brimming with historical countryside and wildlife content. In these two programmes, explore coverage of the Royal Family and their love of gardens.
Step back into 2016 and join BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time as the team visits HRH Prince Charles at his Highgrove home in Gloucestershire.
Called “one of the finest gardeners in the West Country”, Prince Charles has created a vibrant collection of interconnected gardens at Highgrove, with orchards, formal borders, mature trees, a cottage garden and wildflower meadows, all managed according to organic and sustainable principles.
In a 2008 episode of Open Book, hear about the Highgrove Florilegium, a twovolume limited-edition book recording plants in Prince Charles’ Highgrove gardens.
To listen, go to bit.ly/3vDPrZt