{"id":28308,"date":"2023-06-28T10:23:12","date_gmt":"2023-06-28T08:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=28308"},"modified":"2023-06-28T10:23:12","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T08:23:12","slug":"your-countryside-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/2023\/06\/28\/your-countryside-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Your countryside"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

HAVE YOUR SAY ON RURAL ISSUES <\/span><\/p>\n\n

\n\n

Share your views and opinions by writing to us at: <\/strong>
Have your say: BBC Countryfile Magazine, <\/em>Eagle House, Bristol BS1 4ST; or email editor@countryfile.com<\/a>, <\/strong>tweet us @CountryfileMag<\/a> <\/strong>or via Facebook facebook.com\/countryfilemagazine<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

*We reserve the right to edit correspondence <\/p>\n\n

Letter of the month <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

WILD ENCOUNTERS <\/h4>\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n

I relate so closely to Ellie\u2019s sentiments in her April column and delight in the way they are expressed: \u201cwith all \u2018I come in peace\u2019 vibes\u201d. Her article about memorable wildlife encounters has great meaning to me. Such events are imprinted in my memory; a joyful recollection when I am feeling down. <\/p>\n\n

Every day, I walk my Patterdale terrier Isca for over an hour through the wildlife meadow behind me (of which I am steward) and into the woods, alert to sound or movement. So is Isca. I freeze when she stops; her left forepaw lifted. Two years ago, she flushed a huge male otter, which had to swerve to avoid me. <\/p>\n\n

Several days ago, I was standing quite still in a derelict orchard while my Labrador roamed in total darkness. A barn owl, which was residing in nearby converted farm buildings, flew round and round me about 1.5m off the ground. <\/p>\n\n

I have many stories, but one in particular, camping 50-odd years ago with my family on the shores of Loch Sunart, will never be forgotten. The farmer was plagued by rabbits and asked me if I could shoot some with his ancient Hammer 12. When I reached the warren I was memorised by the shaft of moonlight on the still water. Also excited as there appeared to be a seal coming straight towards me. Then I saw the antlers, surely a 12 pointer, and was stunned when the deer came ashore six metres in front of me, shook himself and wandered off. I shall be feasting on the memory when I go back to this spot. <\/p>\n\n

Dick Coates, Monmouth <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Fergus Collins replies:<\/strong> Thank you for these lovely images. I particularly enjoyed your barn owl encounter. I was recording a podcast in Wiltshire once upon a time and a barn owl almost flew into me. You can hear the recording on our Plodcast (episode 23). <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

<\/div>
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THE PRIZE<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This month\u2019s star letter wins a Light My Fire Picnic Set for four, worth \u00a366.95. Made from BPA-free biobased plastics, the set is microwave and dishwasher-safe and includes four StackPlates, four MyCup\u2019n Lids and four Sporks. Lightweight, compact and stackable, the set is super portable for all your picnics and outdoor dining adventures. berryuseful.co.uk<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

\n\n

HATTERSLEY\u2019S ORIGINS <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

I\u2019m from Hattersley. It\u2019s a council estate near Stockport, Manchester and Derbyshire, surrounded by a valley. There once was a pub there and in the pub there was a photo showing how Hattersley got its name; it was once overrun with adders and originally called Addersley. Do you or any of your readers have any information on this? I can\u2019t find anything online; any help would be appreciated.<\/p>\n\n

Kane Howe, Greater Manchester <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\n\n

BEES NEED WATER TOO <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

I have a shallow birdbath in my garden that I have filled with gravel because the bees like to drink from it, but in warmer windy weather it dries out. <\/p>\n\n

I had fetched water to top it up when I noticed these little chaps getting their fill from a birdseed bowl that had collected water. It\u2019s not the most professional photo, just a snapshot, but I thought I should share it with you (above).<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\"\"
Around the waterhole: bees gather for a drink in Malcolm Handley\u2019s garden <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Malcolm <\/strong>Handley <\/strong>Broseley, <\/strong>Shropshire <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\n\n

BADGERS VS HEDGEHOGS <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

Whenever there\u2019s discussion about the tragic decrease in the hedgehog population, there is never any mention of one of the contributing causes of their decline. I\u2019m sure that one of the reasons hedgehog numbers have decreased is because badgers eat them. Friends of ours have actually seen badgers eating hedgehogs! <\/p>\n\n

Since badgers have been protected, their numbers have increased, and this is probably the reason why hedgehog numbers have decreased. We live in the countryside, where there are numerous badgers, and we have not seen a hedgehog for decades! Should some consideration be given to finding a way to protect hedgehogs from badgers?!<\/p>\n\n

Angela <\/strong>Musson, <\/strong>via <\/strong>email <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Hedgehog ecologist Hugh Warwick replies: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Badgers are the main predator of hedgehogs in the UK, after us, of course. If you plot the distribution of the two species, you will find that high badger numbers do tend to correlate with a low hedgehog population. This is work that the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) and the Peoples\u2019 Trust for Endangered Species have been funding; it is published in the scientific literature. <\/em><\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

It is all too easy to leap to the conclusion that the hogs are being eaten, but it is not as simple as that. They have an asymmetric intraguild predatory relationship \u2013 essentially, they are competitors for the same food until the wider ecosystem becomes degraded. And even then, it seems that the main issue is the badgers creating a landscape of fear, restricting the ability of hedgehogs to move about as freely. The answer is clear: we need our farmed landscapes to be biodiverse and bioabundant enough to allow these two species to live side by side, as they have been doing since the retreat of the last ice sheet over 10,000 years ago. <\/em><\/p>\n\n

Hugh is an author, ecologist and spokesperson for the BHPS. His most recent book is The <\/em>Water <\/em>Vole <\/em>Book <\/em>(Graffeg).<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\n\n

CORRECTION <\/strong>Our apologies for incorrectly crediting the gorgeous images of caterpillars on page 13 of our June issue. The images were also not to scale. The illustrator is wildlife artist Richard <\/strong>Lewington, <\/strong>illustrator of the book Field Guide to the Caterpillars of Great Britain and Ireland <\/strong><\/em>by Barry Henwood and Phil Sterling (Bloomsbury Information). <\/p>\n\n

\n\n
POETRY CORNER <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

Thirlmere Reservoir <\/h4>\n\n

by Eleanor Broaders <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

In last year\u2019s heatwave when the reservoirs were depleted, the water level at Thirlmere Reservoir in the Lake District was so low that part of the submerged village of Wythburn was exposed. This poem came to me. <\/p>\n\n

When the morning<\/strong><\/em>
is still and quiet<\/strong><\/em>
The west wind rests <\/strong><\/em>
amongst the leaves. <\/strong><\/em>
Robins thrill from <\/strong><\/em>
moss-dappled stones. <\/strong><\/em>
Liverworts and lichens <\/strong><\/em>
drip from tree trunks.<\/strong><\/em>
The sun rises before <\/strong><\/em>
the moon has set <\/strong><\/em>
And silver birch bark <\/strong><\/em>
glows white in the dawn.<\/strong><\/em>
I walk the forest trails <\/strong><\/em>
listening to the boulders, <\/strong><\/em>
Older than the woods <\/strong><\/em>
in which they lie,<\/strong><\/em>
Sing their songs of times gone by. <\/strong><\/em>
When Mother Nature <\/strong><\/em>
sketched this landscape <\/strong><\/em>
From fire and ice <\/strong><\/em>
and all the wild places<\/strong><\/em>
Had yet to feel the touch of man. <\/strong><\/em>
At Thirlmere they sing <\/strong><\/em>
of a hidden Atlantis <\/strong><\/em>
Of rock and stone <\/strong><\/em>
and cobbled lanes, <\/strong><\/em>
Of hearth and home <\/strong><\/em>
and field and barn.<\/strong><\/em>
Of love and laughter <\/strong><\/em>
and life and death. <\/strong><\/em>
An old packhorse bridge <\/strong><\/em>
spanning a beck. <\/strong><\/em>
Sleepy hamlets <\/strong><\/em>
and scattered hill farms. <\/strong><\/em>
All gone now. Drowned <\/strong><\/em>
In the damming of the lake. <\/strong><\/em>
But the stones remember. <\/strong><\/em>
Sleeping in their mossy beds <\/strong><\/em>
They dream of Armboth <\/strong><\/em>
and Wythburn<\/strong><\/em>
Whose ghostly forms<\/strong><\/em>
lie beneath the mere. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Photos: Alamy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have your say on rural issues<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":28149,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"88","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"88","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_88-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_88-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"July-2023","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"July-2023","purple_external_id":"July-2023-88-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"July-2023-88-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000084071||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000084071||","purple_android_product":"com.im.countryfile.205","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.countryfile.205","purple_ios_product":"com.im.countryfile.205","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.countryfile.205","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"91da22fd-9e7f-40d1-a93f-fc46e9516d91","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-06-28T08:23:19Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"09e5ff32-2fad-4cc9-a949-92c2b6448587","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-06-28T08:23:19Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/ACeX_Mi-tTMmpSZLCtkSFhw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[19],"tags":[14],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/06\/6328bee7-8f25-4945-8c18-e2307705757c.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"6","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/06\/6328bee7-8f25-4945-8c18-e2307705757c.jpg",1343,850,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/06\/6328bee7-8f25-4945-8c18-e2307705757c-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/06\/6328bee7-8f25-4945-8c18-e2307705757c-300x190.jpg",300,190,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/06\/6328bee7-8f25-4945-8c18-e2307705757c-768x486.jpg",768,486,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/06\/6328bee7-8f25-4945-8c18-e2307705757c-1024x648.jpg",800,506,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/06\/6328bee7-8f25-4945-8c18-e2307705757c.jpg",1343,850,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/06\/6328bee7-8f25-4945-8c18-e2307705757c.jpg",1343,850,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Have your say on rural issues","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28308"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28308"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29397,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28308\/revisions\/29397"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}