Turning 30

Today was my 30th birthday! So I just wanted to write a little something, because it's a milestone. Having said that, I don't really know what, haha.

It's been quite a nice day. I had college, and instead of normal lessons we had the practical part of our synoptic assessment. So I spent most of the day in the library working on an assignment, and then a couple of hours outside in the afternoon clearing some pond vegetation. The snow showers were amusing! but the physical work meant we kept warm, and I'm glad it was fairly easy and straightforward so I didn't get frustrated like I usually do in practicals. But I had some lovely messages from friends in the morning, and this evening has been very nice, just spent at home, I got some really lovely gifts and enjoyed some yummy food :) Looking forward to more celebrations over the weekend.

Of course, I don't feel any different to yesterday. But I do feel different from two years ago. Generally, my teens and twenties weren't that great, although of course there were good times which I do need to remember. Much of it was filled with depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, stress, loneliness, feeling stuck and directionless, and things I would rather forget. But I have come a long way, and over the last couple of years things have changed. I'm now the happiest I've ever been. I'm on a path I want to be on and that feels right, even if I don't know what's ahead and am a bit nervous. I understand myself better and accept myself more, and am clearer about what I do and don't want. I'm figuring out ways to deal with things I find difficult. I'm comfortable and content, and have some wonderful friends and family. So, actually, I'm quite looking forward to my thirties, they may be my best years yet :)

Weekend in London, March 2022

Last weekend was wonderful :) I spent it in London with my friend, on a weekend away we were originally meant to go on two years ago. On Friday evening I enjoyed a catch-up over pizza with my oldest friend - we've known each other since we were 5, and will both be turning 30 in the next few days! And then I spent Saturday and Sunday with another friend on this little trip, enjoying the sunny spring equinox weekend in a couple of the city's large green parks, and some great food, before a breathtaking concert on Sunday afternoon.

First - the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew!

Neither of us had been to Kew Gardens before so we were very excited! London traffic meant we arrived an hour later than planned but thankfully there were still parking spaces (just), and we got inside the gates quickly. And yaaay we're in a lovely green park full of grass and trees and flowers! Of course the trees are still mostly bare, but there were daffodils, and glorious pink magnolia, and marvellous cherry trees just bursting with beautiful blossom. It'd be a wonderful place to have on your doorstep as a local, somewhere to go and while away a few hours or a whole day, with a book and a picnic in good weather.

One of the first things we came to was The Hive, an interactive art installation that represented a beehive. From the outside it looked like an enormous roll of wire mesh, but from it emanated a low vibrating hum and orchestral music. Inside, a thousand LED lights flickered in time with the music and humming, which were created to mirror the fluctuating intensity of vibrations produced by bees communicating with each other, as recorded in one of Kew's own beehives. It was a bright sunny day so the lights weren't particularly obvious, but standing in the middle of the installation and being surrounded by that loud vibrating hum was quite impressive. It was a cool example of environmental interpretation, which we've been covering at college this year, something interactive and immersive that engages different senses. The Hive itself it was surrounded by a wildflower meadow (which obviously doesn't look like a wildflower meadow at the moment, but will be a visual and olfactory feast in a few months time) and little boards giving information on bees and the importance of wildflowers.

Wonderful big old trees. Victorian glasshouses full of exotic plants. (Both of us smiled as we entered the tropical section of the Princess of Wales Conservatory - the heat, humidity, plants, and smell of it all reminded my friend of home in India and me of visiting my aunt in tropical Queensland.) Carpets of daffodils and little purpley-blue flowers that weren't bluebells. A pagoda built in the 1760s. A treetop walkway with views over the park and all the way to the City. A lake. Woodland walks and open parkland. Ring-necked parakeets. Cherry blossom! Oh and a tasty lunch - I had a quiche made with mushrooms, spring onion, and nettle. (I must go forage some nettles and make something.)

I had a mooch around the gift shop, hoping to find a hand lens - small little things that anyone can use to look at plants and insects in greater detail (or rocks, or jewellery, or archaeological artefacts, etc.). But to my astonishment they didn't have any!? I thought that Kew Gardens, which must want to encourage people to have an interest in plants and studying botany, would sell the simple accessible tool that is the hand lens. They didn't even have magnifying glasses. Tut tut.

By 4pm we were pretty tired from all the walking around, so just sat on a bench for a while looking at the trees and daffodils in the sinking sunlight, and we left around 5pm. It was a really lovely day, and we only saw half the park. Definitely a place to go back to, especially at a slightly later time of year when the trees are in leaf and there's more growing.

Cherry blossom and the Palm House at Kew

For dinner, we went decidedly out of our way to Southall, to an authentic Punjabi restaurant called Raunka Punjab Diyan. There was an Indian sweets shop next door so we went in there first and my friend bought a selection. The restaurant was busy, and loud, and I was the only non-Indian person in there; my friend asked if I was happy to stay or if I wanted to go to the quieter Turkish place next door. Had I been on my own I probably wouldn't have been quite comfortable, but an Indian restaurant full of Indian people is a sign that it's good! As a food lover, going to a local, family-run restaurant where they serve authentic and delicious dishes, which you don't get in typical Indian (or any other) restaurants that cater to British/tourist tastes, is one of the best experiences.

My friend recommended several dishes, and ordered for us (the staff interacted with her as she speaks the language). To start we shared paneer shashlik - marinated paneer cheese chargrilled with green peppers, onion, and tomatoes. Then we shared two mains and sides: sarson da saag with makki di roti (cornbread roti), and daal makhani with garlic naan. All was delicious! Sarson de saag is a mixture of mustard leaves, spinach, and other greens, cooked down with spices then pureed and traditionally served with a makki di roti. Daal makhani - black lentils and kidney beans slow-cooked with tomatoes, butter, and spices - is one of my favourites anyway... but oh my goodness this one was incredible! In contrast to the chili heat of the saag, and other daal makhani's I've had, the daal was mild and had a lovely sweetness to it, and it just tasted wonderful. Yummmm :)

The sweets aka desserts sounded amazing, so of course we got some. I ordered ras malai, a chilled dish of a soft cheese dumpling in saffron milk, and my friend had dudh jalebi, coils of syrupy deep-fried batter served in a bowl of hot saffron milk. Both were utterly delicious! Mine was lovely and light and refreshing, the milk ever so subtly fragrant. We also ordered some aloo tikki chaat - potato patties with chickpeas in a spicy sauce, chutneys, and yoghurt - from the 'snack' part of the menu to take away with us in case I got hungry later in the evening... which of course I did not after the filling meal. We left it in the cold car overnight, and ended up having it for lunch the next day. And, for a change, I was enjoying myself so much that after the starter I forgot to take photos of the food! Haha.

It's sad we can't really get anything like that closer to home. In Southampton, my friend says Sanjha in Shirley is good, more authentic than most Indian restaurants, and there's an Indian sweets shop in St Mary's, but neither are as good as ones in London. I wondered if I would be able to try and make ras malai at home but my friend said Indian sweets all take a lot of time and effort to prepare. But I might still try and make something similar, perhaps with ricotta. And the sarson da saag has given me an idea of what to do with those big bags of spinach that I usually end up wasting half of because I can't use it all in time - I'll try cooking it down with onion, garlic, ginger, and spices, blend it to a coarse puree, and serve with a flatbread. Decent healthy snack or lunch :) 

Holm oak in Greenwich Park

We stayed in a Holiday Inn Express in Limehouse. Parking was £20 so the man at reception suggested parking in a nearby residential street instead - but after driving around my friend couldn't find such a place, at least that felt safe, so pay £20 we did. In the morning, breakfast was included so I enjoyed some scrambled eggs, baked beans, and a Cumberland sausage, plus a yoghurt and a croissant, though I was feeling quite dehydrated from not drinking enough the day before (there weren't any water refill stations at Kew that we could see), so was disappointed to find no bowls of fresh juicy fruit, or even canned fruit salad, to rehydrate with, though I had a few glasses of water of course.

Our plan for the morning was to go to Greenwich Park. Wandering down the avenue of trees towards the Royal Observatory I was very happy to see a magnificent holm oak - an evergreen species from the Mediterranean - its limbs spreading out in a wide circle around it, a real parkland oak. (Parkland trees grow outward as well as up because they are surrounded by open space, whereas the growth of trees in woodland is more upright. This can give you a clue as to the history of a place, e.g. if you see a parkland tree in a wood, or an upward-reaching tree in an open park.) 

The Royal Observatory, which has the Prime Meridian marker, was closed, but we could see the line through the gates and I noticed it went down a wall and onto another footpath - so we got to see and stand on it anyway :) One foot in the eastern hemisphere, one foot in the western hemisphere. We continued down the hill and went to see Cutty Sark - the world's last surviving tea clipper and one of the fastest ships of its time, built for the China tea trade and launched in 1870 - which was impressive to look at from the outside. I do admire the sailors, who had to clamber up the rigging in the middle of the deep dark ocean as the ship rolled about in the waves. Ambling back through the streets I was tempted by food several times - at the stalls in Greenwich Market (a cute little covered market), at a gelato shop, and at a bakery that filled the street with the scent of baking cinnamon buns. Alas the latter had only just come out the oven and weren't ready for sale yet, and the staff couldn't tell us how long it would be, so we didn't wait, and made our way back to the park. 

The reason for going to London in the first place was to see the matinee of 'Planet Earth II Live in Concert' at The O2 on Sunday afternoon. I had been given tickets as a birthday or Christmas gift in 2019, and the show was originally booked for March 2020, then for obvious reasons rescheduled twice. So it was great to finally go! I should have done some research beforehand and pre-booked parking, as we ended up paying an absurd £36 to park for the afternoon. We ate the aloo tikki chaat for lunch, which was of course very tasty, and had some of the Indian sweets my friend had bought, which were really nice. After the ridiculous stressful faff that was collecting the tickets and getting in, we could just sit back, relax, and enjoy the concert.

Planet Earth II, the TV series, was of course stunning. I think it was the first Attenborough series that I watched in full, so it's stayed with me and remains my favourite, though of course they're all amazing. I especially love the soundtrack - composed by Hans Zimmer, Jacob Shea, and Jasha Klebe - and the main theme is one of my favourite pieces of orchestral music, probably in part because of its association with the spectacular cinematography of the series; it always sends a shiver down my spine and brings a smile to my face. The concert was basically screenings of some of the more well-known clips from the series, on the big screen, without Attenborough's narration but with the soundtrack being played by a live orchestra. It was spine-tingling, breathtaking, and we both sat there in awe, absolutely loving it. Science presenter Liz Bonnin hosted, coming on stage in between clips and talking about them (and of course the importance of protecting the natural world), with the series' Executive Producer, Mike Gunton, who could tell us about how they made it, which was cool. While Sir David Attenborough is brilliant, the actual production teams are the ones who envision and create these spectacular documentaries. Each clip is a mammoth task and the teams do astonishing work.

After that fantastic concert, we went to find the gelato place within the O2 - I had been wanting some ever since passing the shop in Greenwich. It was of course going to be stupidly expensive, but oh well. I chose a scoop of hazelnut, and my friend got white chocolate-pistachio; we each tried a small spoonful of the other's and her's was amazing, I should have chosen that instead haha. Afterwards we got an early dinner in the Design Quarter's street food hub just outside the O2; I got an Indian naan wrap with minced lamb and salad, but sadly it was very spicy so I regretted my choice a bit. But once back at the car I thoroughly enjoyed finishing off the two Indian sweets I'd had half of at lunchtime. My favourite was a bright orange cardamon-flavoured syrup-drenched ball called a ladoo. 

And that was it, homeward we went. This weekend in London, enjoying so many great things with my friend, was just so lovely, really special, and was a great way to have an early birthday celebration :) I know this has been a long post, but it's more for my memories than for an entertaining read, haha. But thanks for reading if you have.

Bringing Back Beavers

A few weeks ago, I was asked by Conker Nature Magazine if I would be able to write an article for them, about the beaver reintroductions in Britain. The editor is a friend from college and likes my writing on here. We didn't have any college assignments to do, so I said yes! 

I knew almost nothing about the reintroductions, so I really enjoyed researching and writing the article. As I mention in it, it's easy to find information on beavers and their benefits, so I focused on the story of the reintroductions themselves, which was really interesting. (I would like to write a post on here soon, though, about beavers and the importance of wetland habitats in general.) It was also quite nice, as an overthinker and perfectionist who usually spends an extraordinarily long time writing blog posts and college reports, to be given a specific topic to write about, and a deadline of just a week. It still took a long time, though, haha.

Anyway, the article was published two weeks ago in Conker Nature's February 2022 edition, to mark the one-year anniversary of Natural England basically giving the green light to future beaver reintroductions. I was so chuffed to be asked and it's really cool to have my writing published in a magazine - thanks again to the editor for the opportunity! I was sent a digital copy of the final "tearsheets", the pages with my article on, and have kindly been allowed to share the article text on here too :)

You can find out more about Conker Nature on the website linked above, Like/Follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter, and, if you're interested, purchase print, digital, or print and digital copies of all issues of the magazine at MagCloud.com. I hope you enjoy the article!

Bringing Back Beavers

Many of us grew up associating beavers with North America, not knowing they were once an integral part of British landscapes too. The Eurasian beaver, Castor fiber, was hunted to extinction in Britain in the 16th century, prized for its fur, meat, and the oil from its scent glands which was used in perfumes and medicine. Reintroductions have been going on in Europe for around a century after the population dropped to just 1200 individuals, but we are finally catching up, and the last two decades have seen efforts to bring these amazing rodents back to our island.

It is very easy to find information on what beavers are and the benefits they bring, so I won't go into that here. Instead I'd like to tell the story of the reintroductions themselves. It started in Scotland. After the European Habitats Directive 1992 encouraged Member States to consider the reintroduction of extinct species, in 1995 Scottish Natural Heritage (now NatureScot) began feasibility studies. They looked at the historical evidence of beavers there, suitable habitat sites, appropriate sources from populations on the Continent, possible beaver movements across the landscape, and their potential impacts. The first licence application for a trial reintroduction in 2005 was rejected, but this led to the Scottish Wildlife Trust becoming more involved and joining forces with the Royal Zoological Society for Scotland, and in 2008 a licence was granted. In May 2009 three families of Eurasian beavers from Norway, 11 animals in total, were released in separate locations across Knapdale Forest in Argyll, beginning the five-year Scottish Beaver Trial.

In the meantime, wild beavers had also mysteriously appeared in eastern Scotland, on the River Tay in Perthshire. In 2012 the Scottish Government decided to allow them to stay for the remaining duration of the Scottish Beaver Trial, and set up the Tayside Beaver Study Group to monitor them. It would then take the findings of both studies into account and make a decision on the future of all beavers in Scotland.

South of the border, beavers have been living wild again in England since around 2008, when they were spotted on the River Otter in south-east Devon. As on the River Tay, these were of unknown origin. When kits were seen in 2014, the UK Government intended to capture and remove all the beavers there to stop further breeding and spreading, but, backed by huge public support, the Devon Wildlife Trust stepped in with a plan for a five-year trial reintroduction, which was approved. Once the animals had been caught and tested to confirm they were of Eurasian origin and healthy, they were returned to the river in 2015 - and the River Otter Beaver Trial began.

Estuary of the River Otter. (Photo mine, not used in the article.)

There have also been around a dozen licensed releases onto enclosed sites around England and Wales, in efforts to help restore vital wetland habitats and improve biodiversity. As early as 2002, Kent Wildlife Trust were the first to import, quarantine, and release two families of Eurasian beavers into a 30-hectare enclosure on one of their nature reserves to help restore the south-east's last remaining fenland habitat at Ham Fen. In 2011 a pair were released into a 3-hectare enclosure on private land in Devon, followed by Cornwall in 2017, Essex in 2019, and Cheshire, Cumbria, the Knepp Estate in Sussex, and the National Trust Holnicote Estate in Somerset in 2020. And in 2021 beavers were released in Dorset, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, a National Trust location in the South Downs, and for the first time in Wales at Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust's Cors Dyfi Nature Reserve.

There are of course conflicts and opposition, particularly with the wild beaver trials. Beaver activities may damage vegetation or cause flooding, affecting agricultural and forestry crops. Although they are herbivores and don't eat fish, their dams may prevent upstream migration of species like salmon and trout and affect fisheries. Their creation of wetlands can cause concern of increased flood risk, or flood risk to new areas. Their underground burrows can erode riverbanks. And they could carry and spread disease. Of course people are going to be concerned about potential socio-economic and public health issues. Plus, we humans don't like change very much, and in 500 years we've forgotten not only how to live alongside these animals but also that we once did. Our landscapes are vastly different to what they were when beavers were last here, and there are tens of millions more people. 

The wild beaver trials rigorously monitored every possible aspect: the ecology and health of the beavers themselves; the local populations of otters, fish, dragonflies and damselflies, and other fauna; the woodland, loch, and river habitats they inhabited; hydrology; water chemistry; scheduled ancient monuments; socio-economics including agriculture and forestry; and public health risks. The vast amount of information gathered by the Scottish Beaver Trial and the Tayside Beaver Study Group were summarised in Scottish Natural Heritage's 2015 "Beavers in Scotland" report.

After reviewing the report, in 2016 the Scottish Government made the landmark decision that the beaver populations in Knapdale and Tayside could stay. They would be allowed to expand their range naturally, though careful management was needed to minimise negative impacts, and the government would work towards securing European Protected Species status for beavers in Scotland. In 2017 the three-year Scottish Beaver Reinforcement Project began, to strengthen the Knapdale population with further releases from different genetic backgrounds. In 2019 the Protected Species status was granted, meaning it is illegal to kill beavers or destroy their dams or lodges, although culls when difficulties cannot be mitigated or managed another way are permitted under license. The most recent NatureScot figures estimated the beaver population in Scotland to be somewhere between 600 and 1380, mainly in the Tay and Forth catchments.

In England, the UK Government hailed the success of the River Otter Beaver Trial in 2020, particularly the impact on the local ecology and flood risk reduction, and likewise allowed the beavers to stay, roam free, and expand their range subject to management. At that point there were 15 beaver families across the river's catchment. In 2021 Natural England published their recommendations for future licensed reintroductions into the wild, namely that they should be done at a measured pace to allow habitats, species, and people to adapt and time for problems to be resolved.

Reintroducing beavers to Britain has been a resounding success. While it may be nice to think that this is due to the charisma and good work of the animals themselves, it is to the outstanding work of the countless people involved that we owe our thanks. From Wildlife Trusts to government bodies, university research teams to local government environmental health departments, farmers, fishermen, local community members, partners in Europe, landowners, enthusiasts, skeptics, and more. We have a habit of simplifying and overlooking how much work things take, but I hope I have given you a better idea of just how much has gone into these reintroduction efforts. As the climate and biodiversity crisis continues, the wetlands that beavers create are vitally needed - for storage of carbon and water, flood mitigation, and as habitat for species under pressure - and this work must continue. These trials have paved the way and left us with excellent guidelines to use going forward. Hopefully as time goes on we will see wild beaver numbers grow in new areas of the country - and maybe a glimpse of the wonderful creatures occasionally too.

History of the British countryside, part 2

Following on from my previous post, here is...

A simplified history of the British countryside, from the Stone Age to the present - Part Two

14th - 17th centuries

The early 14th century saw a boom in agriculture, woodland cover was down to 7%, and the population was around 7.5 million. After the Black Death of 1348-50, the population was down to 3.5 million. Deserted villages and abandoned farms were left unmanaged, so woods started to develop again. After centuries of being contained in private parks, rabbits escaped into the wild, and quickly became so numerous as to be seen as pests due to their grazing. The Tudors needed enormous amounts of timber for ships and forts – Henry VIII’s flagship the Mary Rose alone needed 1200 trees – and their large-scale removal of large and ancient trees, mostly oak, changed the appearance and wildlife of woodlands. In the 1660s, silviculture and plantation forestry began as landowners were encouraged to plant, grow, tend, and harvest trees for timber to support the Navy. Serious efforts to drain the East Anglian fens began.

Enclosure Acts, 1750-1850

As the population increased and more efficient food production was needed, and workers were required for growing industries in the cities, successive Governments passed Enclosure Acts for thousands of parcels of land across the country between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries. These broke up and privatised previously open communal land and changed the face of the countryside dramatically. Barriers and boundaries sprang up everywhere to enclose the new private properties – walls, fences, hedgerows, banks, ditches, roads and tracks. Rights of Common were removed, denying people the ability to live off the land, and there was mass migration to cities. Inside the estates, some good habitat management practices like coppicing were continued by gamekeepers to provide good conditions for game birds, as game sports became popular with the wealthy new landowners.

18th - 19th centuries

Coppicing peaked in the early 18th century, as the new industrial furnaces needed 10,000 acres of coppice each. As the Industrial Revolution took hold, coal became the preferred fuel, and large timber was needed for coal mine pit-props and railways. As coppice and other habitats declined, so too did a wide range of species which relied on them. Botanists explored the world and brought back exotic plants, including ornamental but invasive rhododendron and new fast-growing conifer trees for forestry. Many landowners turned to sheep grazing due to the high value of wool, and we still see the legacy of this today in areas like the Lake District and Scotland. The Victorians straightened many rivers to create more usable land and to try to prevent flooding by allowing water to move more quickly through an area. Muntjac, Sika, and Chinese Water Deer were introduced from Asia and soon escaped into the wild.

World War One and Two

Declaration of war in 1914 meant another increase in demand for timber, both for the trenches and for mine pit-props to ensure a supply of coal for Royal Navy ships. Trade links were almost completely cut off, preventing cheap imports, which resulted in more woodland inclosures being felled. By the end of the war woodland cover was at an all-time low of just 5%, so in 1919 the government established the Forestry Commission to ensure a supply of homegrown timber for the future with fast-growing conifers. Farmers had to produce more food with fewer labourers and horses so tractors were introduced, and the “Ploughing Up” campaign led to an extra 2.5 million acres being turned over to growing wheat, oats, and potatoes. In World War Two, a similar campaign meant the area of arable land in the UK increased by 50% in just five years.

Mid to late 20th century

Following WWII, agriculture and forestry intensified further, and even into the 1980s hedgerows were being dug up to create larger fields. However, the need for people to be able to access the countryside for wellbeing was also recognised and National Parks, nature reserves, and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty were created. In the 1950s, disease decimated wild rabbit populations, and, without their grazing controlling regrowth, many grasslands became overgrown with scrub and trees. The following decades saw rapid advances such as increased mechanisation, introduction of new crops like the now-widespread bright yellow oilseed rape, and increased pesticide use. Environmental awareness spread during the 1980s, and agri-environment schemes were established to encourage landowners and farmers to take actions that benefit certain species or habitats.

Present day

Today, around 65 million people live in Britain, and to the 85% of those who live in towns and cities the countryside is largely regarded as a place of recreation rather than work and survival, although around 70% of land area is farmland. There are still many pressures, changes, and challenges: the constant construction of new housing estates, polluting industries and lifestyles, species decline and biodiversity loss, climate change. However, the ecological importance of a diverse range of habitats is more widely understood, and there are widespread efforts to restore woodlands, grasslands, hedgerows, heathlands, river meanders, and wetlands; reinstate traditional management methods, upon which many species depend to create the conditions they need; and reintroduce nationally-extinct species. Understanding the history of the land may help us create a sustainable future. 

Modern farmland in winter

History of the British countryside, part 1

I love history, and I love the countryside. One of the very first lessons we had at college at the start of last academic year was, to my delight, on the history of the countryside. I wanted to write about it back then, but never got around to it. But then last term we had a Specialist Project unit at college, so I decided to create a booklet on that very subject :)

The booklet was submitted just before Christmas, so the text for this post has been written for about two months. I did want to add to it, to include more interesting things I found in my research that I didn't have room to put in the booklet. But because I made the booklet directly from the notes document and not in a separate one, the notes I omitted no longer exist, and I just don't have time right now to re-do it all (or go back through the document Version History), sadly. So here it is...

A simplified history of the British countryside, from the Stone Age to the present - Part One

Key terms:

• BCE = Before Common Era (instead of BC) 
• CE = Common Era (instead of AD) 
• c. = circa = around, roughly 
• Tundra = open arctic landscape of lichens, mosses, short grasses, dwarf shrubs, reindeer and wild horses 
• Aurochs = ancient wild cattle, up to 2m tall at the shoulders, became extinct in Britain in the Bronze Age 
• Coppicing = periodic cutting of tree stems to allow regrowth of multiple stems – sustainable way to produce wood 

Mesolithic ("Middle Stone Age", c. 10,000BCE - 4500 BCE)

At the end of the last Ice Age, the climate began to warm. As the ice retreated, the land slowly transformed from treeless open tundra, to boreal forest of pine and birch, to dense broadleaf woodland – the “wildwood”. Animals such as red deer, boar, and aurochs migrated up into this north-western corner of the continent, and humans followed. The natural grazing processes of these large herbivores created a shifting mosaic of woodland interspersed with open areas of grasses, flowers, and small shrubs – trees covered about 60% of land area. Humans were nomadic hunter-gatherers, following their food, and had a relatively small impact on the landscape - although not none. Some began to create clearings to attract the herds and allow fruiting plants to grow, for easier hunting and foraging. The land between what is now Britain and Europe was slowly taken over by rising sea levels, finally creating an island around 6000 BCE. 

Neolithic ("New Stone Age", c. 4500 BCE - 2200 BCE)

Small-scale human organisation and impact on the land increased as rudimentary agriculture with crops and domestic animals reached Britain, and humans began living in more permanent settlements. Quarries and mines were established for flint and other useful stone. Settlers made use of difficult areas, for example by building wooden trackways across fens and marshes. Woodlands started to be cleared and managed – coppicing began – and after a few generations the loss of nutrients on well-draining soils meant that trees could not regrow: grasslands and heathlands established, and were used for grazing. Watercourses would have become cloudier with silt as soil washed into them, no longer held together by living tree roots. By the time Stonehenge and other monuments were created there were large areas of open land with views unobstructed by trees. 

Bronze Age and Iron Age (c. 2200 BCE - 43 CE)

Better metal tools meant easier, faster tree clearance for settlements. The first field systems were established, in some places marked out with stone walls known as ‘reaves’ which can still be seen today. Mines for copper, gold, and tin were created. Coppicing increased to produce charcoal, which was needed to fuel the smelting of copper and tin for bronze. By the Iron Age, small settlements and farmsteads scattered the land, surrounded by fields of crops and pastures for livestock. Woodland clearance continued to increase, as did coppicing for smelting iron. The introduction of iron-tipped ards (an early type of plough) meant heavier soils could be cultivated. Humans had organised into large regional tribes, and on hills across the country the treeless slopes were dug up to create ramparts of steep banks and deep ditches, known today as hill forts. 

Bronze Age burial mound

Roman occupation (43 CE - 410 CE)

The Roman conquering of England and Wales brought enormous change, and their engineering innovations left huge marks on the landscape. They created the first urban infrastructure, building towns and cities, 16,000km of roads, and canals and aqueducts carrying water to the towns, as well as military forts and luxurious villas with formal gardens for the landowning aristocracy. The landscape became more planned and regulated, with clusters of farms serving an estate, and, as war-going people who needed timber and money, the Romans began to manage woodlands as commercial crops, and hay meadows for animal feed. Non-native plant and animal species were introduced, including rabbits for meat and fur and the sweet chestnut tree for nuts and timber. Their heavier iron plough allowed expansion of farming, and in some places Roman field systems are still in use today.

Anglo-Saxon period (410 CE - 1066)

The Germanic tribes that came to Britain after the Romans left were farmers, so lifestyles largely reverted to those of pre-Roman times. Coppice woodlands were divided into compartments for families and villages, marked out using boundary wood banks, and the practice of leaving “standards” within coppice – selected trees left to grow naturally as one large stem for timber – began. Scattered farms with enclosed arable and pasture fields were replaced with villages and open strip fields farmed communally – as a result, wood pasture for livestock grazing increased too. Eventually towns began to establish again, and estates linked to the early Christian monasteries. The composition of tree species around the country was affected by a warming of the climate between around 800 CE and 1300 CE, known as the Medieval Warm Period. 

Norman period (1066 onwards)

William the Conquerer designated huge areas of land as Royal Forest, i.e. hunting parks – originally, “forest” meant an open area given over to hunting. 90% of the population lived in the countryside and were suddenly banned from hunting deer, wild boar, and hares, but in return Rights of Common were established, which allowed people to collect firewood, graze livestock, and dig turf or peat for fuel, among other things. Hunting favoured open areas, so many grasslands, heathlands, and wetlands were protected and kept open – and survived for centuries because of this. Meadows increased in area as hay became more profitable than grazing, and most floodplains were utilised as meadow. The Normans also introduced pheasants and fallow deer, and re-introduced rabbits.

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Next week I'll cover the late medieval period to the present day. If you like this sort of thing, I recommend reading Nicholas Crane's The Making of the British Landscape. Archaeologist Francis Pryor has a book of the same name and that looks good too. Oliver Rackham's History of the British Countryside may appeal to those with more of a scientific interest, I didn't find it to be very easy reading and the chapters are by habitat type rather than in chronological order. And Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens is fascinating in terms of humanity's general development and how we changed from being one of numerous human species, very much a part of the ecosystems we inhabited, to being the only human species and dominating everything.