Northwest nature and history

Happy New Year!

Here’s wishing you all a Happy and Prosperous 2026! From Alex and Louise Burton-Hargreaves in Lancashire Louise & Alex Burton-Hargreaves (Dec 2025)

Common Ivy

Common ivy, scientifically known as Hedera helix, is an evergreen climbing plant native to, and ubiquitous throughout the British Isles, excepting the far north and a few spots like the Isle of Man.

Merry Christmas to all my subscribers and visitors, I’m just having a break from writing until after Christmas, (mainly because I’ve got so much still left to do!) So I’d like wish you all peace and goodwill and I leave you with this joyful and thoughtful poem by the Lancastrian poet Edwin Waugh; Christmas MorningContinue reading “Merry Christmas!”

The Lord of Misrule and his Merry band of Mummers

“Here we stand before your door, As we stood the year before; Give us whiskey, give us gin, Open the door and let us in.”

Gallinago the Bog Drummer

If you’ve ever stood in the reeds of Chat Moss, the wet sheep-pastures of the Ribble estuary, the peat-bogs of Bowland or the rushy fields around Martin Mere on a still April evening, you might have heard a weird, somewhat spooky, sound that you couldn’t quite put your finger on; a bleating, almost goat-like humming that seemed to come from the sky itself, and you may have wondered what made it.

Flavoparmelia caperata, the Common Greenshield Lichen

A look at one of our Most Common Foliose Lichens, with some Notes about Uses for Measuring Air Pollution and Chemical ‘K, C and Pd Identification Tests

Christmas Song, by Edwin Waugh

Bring in the green holly, the box, and the yew, the fir, and the laurel, all sparkling with rime; Hang up to the ceiling the mistletoe-bough, and let us be jolly another yule-time!

Upland Farming in the Backend of the Year

This time of year, (around the end of November / start of December as of writing) is known as the “hinge of the year” by upland farmers. The clocks have gone back, the bracken has bleached to rust, and the last of the swallows are long gone. Up on the fells the year’s main outdoor work might be done, yet it never really stops. This is the season of maintenance, mending, and quiet worry.