The rainforests of Britain, a Cornwall light show, Christmas gardens and more in our Dawn Chorus round-up this morning.
The rainforests of… Britain?
We’d always thought that the term ‘rainforest’ was reserved for swathes of woodland in the Tropics — but apparently not, and The Woodland Trust are trying to put that right. Situated in the south-west of England, Wales, north-west England and Scotland, the rainforests ‘make up just one per cent of our islands,’ apparently, but they ‘used to cover 20 per cent.’ This, say the charity, makes British rainforest even more threatened than its tropical counterparts.
These ‘temperate rainforests’ are unique environments home to wildlife not seen elsewhere, with ‘damp, humid conditions making them a haven for over 200 different species of bryophytes and 100-200 species of lichen’, some of which pre-date not just mankind, but even the dinosaurs.
Hazel gloves fungus is a conservation priority’ for the Woodland Trust. It’s a species that exclusively grows on old hazel trees and looks rather like, ahem, intestines. The Woodland Trust call it ‘a sure sign of clean air and a wood’s ancient origins.’ Credit: Woodland Trust
They are also unique in having a connection to the ocean, bringing temperate climates and high rainfall (more than 1.4m per year). The white-tailed sea eagle pictured above is a resident: apparently it often nests in rainforests, hunts in the nearby sea bringing, and then heads back to the trees.
The Woodland Trust is launching a campaign to save and restore 580 hectares of these rainforests at multiple places in Britain — you can find out more about it at their website.
The lights fantastic
Credit: Andy Wilson / The Lost Gardens of Heligan
The 2024 light show at The Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall is on now and runs until January 4th. Tickets from £20.50 / £11 — see www.heligan.com for more.
Quiz of the Day
1) Which London club, based at 107, Pall Mall, SW1, was founded in 1824?
2) How many points are usually sufficient to win a game of Badminton?
3) In which county is the National Agricultural and Exhibition Centre?
4) How is ale with a strength of 4.2%–4.7% abv described?
5) What is the only continent on which wasps are not found?
Answers at the bottom of the page
A daily dose of Clive at Christmas
Clive Nichols is one of the very finest photographers we work with at Country Life, a true genius — much of which he achieves by getting up at 3 o’clock in the morning, as we found out when he was our guest on the Country Life Podcast a few months ago. (We also found out that he’s a cracking nice man too.)
All of this brings us to the point: Clive is posting daily seasonal photos on his Instagram page, and they’re a joy. Give him a follow if you haven’t already.
View this post on Instagram
‘We are farming at a loss — a serious loss’
Country Life’s long-standing columnist Carla Carlisle — who has been writing for us for not far short of 30 years — runs a farm in Suffolk with her family. And her heartbreaking piece this week tells just how bad things have become. Worrying times.
‘Ecstasy and peace come wrapped in a grey concrete box in the middle of a lava field. There are no trees, there are few vistas, and only the occasional mountain…. Elon Musk wants to put people on Mars, which is stupid for many reasons. You need not bother getting in a starship built by Silicon Valley’s Willy Wonka: another world is right here, in Iceland’
Several colleagues have mentioned to me over the last few weeks about how good James Fisher’s recent piece on Iceland was, which was originally published when I was away. I finally got round to reading it today — and if you haven’t yet, you really, really should.
That’s it — we’re back on Monday
1) The Athenaeum Club
2) 21 (it was changed in 2006, in case you’re thinking you’re sure it was 15 points back when you were at school)
3) Warwickshire
4) Best bitter
5) Antarctica
