I have been so wanting to write this update but got struck by a really irritating cold that has done the usual on me …

There will be lots more photos on the Substack version … please pop over … and if you have the capacity to support, it is much appreciated … though nothing is being a paywall.

Before being stricken, I had what could almost be described as a holiday! An invitation to speak in Chagford about my book, Cull of the Wild, was very welcome, despite the distance from home … as Chagford is on Dartmoor and I love Dartmoor. So I built in a couple of days extra - and it really filled me with a great blast of wild!

The opening treat was to pick up my ‘odd’-daughter from Exeter, where she is at college, and take her home. Silva is a remarkable young person and I love her dearly - but see her far too rarely. We nattered constantly (I was quite content at the sluggish rush hour traffic) before dropping her home and heading over to George and Rebecca for dinner and bed.

Sparkling conversation, amazing food, and a rather lovely bottle of wine - and a very basic lesson in making tofu even better!! 

Tuesday morning I headed to the moor - had a plan to walk from Meldon Quarry to Black-A-Tor Copse - this is a relic of ancient oak woodland - trees all twisted and smothered in mosses and lichens. A few years ago I had explored Wistman’s Wood - but due to too many visitors not treating the place with respect, it has been fenced off. This is rated as the next best thing!

But … distractions … I saw a small waterfall up to my left and thought that should not be a problem to get to … taking photos along the way of moss and lichen and just letting the riffling-ruffling sound of water fill my mind with such a deep calm.

Depressingly, there were moments when I was reminded that I am not as I once was … a younger me would have leapt across streams, dancing from rock to rock with not a care in the world. Now, I stop, gauge, wish I had a walking stick, lean forward, check slipperiness and wobble (of the rock), before tentatively making it to the other side. And, yes, there were moments where I thought I might be about to become an embarrassing anecdote - found sprawled in a stream!

Never made it to the wood, but did make it in one piece to Chagford - and thank you to the dynamic duo of Lisa and Tony for bringing so many interesting people together to listen to my talk about Cull of the Wild. Their work on the Dartmoor Nature Alliance …. Is really worth looking in to and I want to write more about it … probably next year. 

Next I headed to meet some of my heroes … Remember when I wrote about Eva and Emily and their amazing work breeding and releasing harvest mice?? Well, I got to spend time with them - first with Emily and her mum, as we went looking for harvest mice nests where the pretty rodents had been released.

This was the first survey - and if one was found, well, it would proof that the release had resulted in living mice making a new home …. But it was getting dark, and it was muddy and for the second time on this trip I knew I was going to need to scrub my boots again … phone torches in hand we started peering into clumps of grass. What we were looking for was a ball of grass that had been loosely woven into a nest … not easy … but then a shout from Emily’s mum!! Success!

By the time we had finished taking photos and being a little giddy it really was too dark to find any more - but one was enough … and we brought it back to the house to show Eva when she got back from school. More giddiness - a short video message to Chris Packham, who came to the release, and Derek Gow - who supplied the first harvest mice.

Over dinner conversation circled back to Derek Gow … and the film that is being made about him and his work …

Please have a look at this link - you will see a trailer but also a call for money. The aim is to get this film in front of farmers all over the country. I have seen a big chunk of the film - it is very funny, very rude, and filled with the important conversations we need to have that are so difficult to have … how can we allow nature and farming to coexist? Is rewilding the way forward? How can these two neighbours coexist?

My ‘holiday’ was nearly over, but stopped in to visit my friend Els in her ramshackle farmhouse before heading home and straight back into the thick of it (with the now very present cold!) Saturday was the Green Fair in Oxford - it has become a significant part of my hedgehog year … I have a stall where I spend hours and hours talking about how to help hedgehogs! I keep thinking I must have shared everything I know with everyone in the city … but apparently not!!

Luring people to the ways of Hedgehog Street is such a fun thing to do!! 

By way of a complete contrast, Saturday night I was in Merton College, photographing their Advent service … and Sunday, Magdalen doing the same … like I said in the last update … variety!!!

Next update will feature (hopefully) my mother!