We’ve watched the comedy of the European veto that didn’t stop anything. Cringed at the farce accompanying the Big Society which despite multiple relaunches is no longer mentioned even by its main protagonist. And now we are witnessing the unfolding tragedy behind the pledge to be ‘the greenest government ever’. This hubristic claim was made way back in the euphoric early days of the coalition government on 14 May 2010 to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) on a trip round Whitehall to explain the new government.

It began with him telling us that he ‘cared passionately’ about the environment and saw real possibilities in boosting initiatives in the area. Then came the ill-fated forestry sell off proposals. The Forestry Commission is the government department responsible – in its own words – “for the protection and expansion of Britain’s forests and woodlands”. In England it manages 250,000 hectares comprising approximately 1,500 forests, including the Forest of Dean, the New Forest and Kielder Forest which is about 18% of the total woodland. Back in January the government pledged to sell off 15% of this holding by 2015. Cue public outrage and scathing criticism from august organisations like the National Trust, Ramblers and RSPB. Not to forget the Daily Telegraph and the Today programme. It was the making of 38 Degrees and the virtual world of groups like mumsnet were awash with scornful comments on the proposal. All swiftly followed by a rapid u-turn by the government. So far so bad and not very green.

Then there’s the solar panel fiasco. The government is committed to increasing the amount of energy generated from renewable sources. Back in 2010 before a subsidy was introduced for those generating power from solar panels we created a derisory 30 megawatts. In October 2011 we had increased this to a much better figure of 321 megawatts (an impressive tenfold increase.) Over 90,000 homes, including me, had carried out installation. This not only sounds like a success but is a success. So what does DECC do – with effect from 12 December it slashes the tariff rate from 43p per kilowatt hour to 21p a full 5 months ahead of schedule and 2 weeks before it’s own consultation period considering the issue was due to close. This prompted successful legal action by Friends of the Earth challenging the legitimacy of this decision and a whole industry warning it was close to collapse meaning the possible loss of over 15,000 jobs. The courts ruled the government’s tariff change illegal and their whole policy is left in disarray – sound familiar?

What about the Green Investment Bank I hear you ask. Frequently trotted out by ministers wishing to establish their green credentials it will not be able to borrow money for years. Fuel duty was reduced in the budget and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) suffered savage cuts. Local councils are laying off rights of way staff left, right and centre and Greg Clark, the Planning minister, proposed planning reforms that would have seen our current 1,000+ pages of policy reduced to just 52. One wonders what they’ve filled out the 52 with because the new policy appears to be ‘build where you bloody well like’ at the same time as completely scrapping the equally important environmental and social elements of the system. Conflating ‘sustainable development’ and ‘sustainable economic growth’ has meant, according to the Commons select committee responsible for reviewing the reforms, the strong possibility that there will be more legal actions challenging proposals not less.

But the final nail in the ‘greenest government ever’ coffin came in the Chancellor’s autumn statement. “We are not going to save the planet by shutting down our steel mills, aluminium smelters and paper manufacturers. All we will be doing is exporting valuable jobs out of Britain,” announced George Osborne in promising amongst other things an airport, at great environmental cost, in the Thames estuary that no one wants or needs. Incidentally he seemed to be harking back to an industrial old Britain redolent of Orwell’s novels. In addition to this support for heavy industry, he spoke of the “ridiculous cost” that EU initiatives on the environment were imposing on firms, and emphasised the burden that green policies were placing on the economy. Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat Environment Secretary, is said to be furious, having not been consulted.

So the journey from the noble aspiration of being ‘the greenest government ever’ to becoming the most environmentally destructive government to hold power in this country since the modern environmental movement was born is complete. At the heart of the problem is not just austerity, but the perception in government that pursuing green policies is an inconvenient burden on the economy rather than a necessity and an opportunity.

After all that national gloom let’s take a quick look at some local disquiet. Those of you familiar with the Capital Ring will remember that the route takes you through the grounds of the unbelievably posh, public Harrow School as part of one stretch. Up until 8 years ago I understand it followed the route of a 19th century footpath. I am familiar with the route – known as Footpath 57 to the local authority – and have always enjoyed it for the marvellous vista of London as you walk down from Harrow on the Hill.

A few years ago the school wanted to further develop the grounds and 2 more all-weather pitches were proposed to be built on top of the right of way. I say more because if you visit this part of London it seems to have more pitches than Hackney Marshes. As I understand it the local Ramblers, being a co-operative bunch, agreed as long as an alternative route was created. The path you walk today is clearly signed as permissive and Harrow School swiftly built the pitches but as yet have not confirmed the other route as a path that would be available as a right for everyone to walk for ever.

Not only that but they are now threatening to shut the permissive path as a part of their ‘developing anti-trespass policy’. This policy seems to be ‘developing’ along standard class warfare lines. They’re rich and arrogant and don’t give a damn what anyone else thinks. They think that just because they charge £30,000 a year per student and a couple of their ex-pupils were Prime Minister they can do what they like. Their attitude has always been one of sufferance. Go along and walk this part of the Capital Ring and you’ll notice numerous large signs telling you where you can’t walk in contrast to the smaller fingerposts showing you the correct route. I found the atmosphere is unwelcoming and hostile, while for others I’ve spoken to the route is confusing which leads to a wandering about looking for the correct path.

As I understand it the local council, are supporting North West London Ramblers in their struggle with Harrow School. As local councillor Sue Anderson (Labour, Greenhill) said: “I think the area should be open as it is a right of way and you can’t just fence that off”. And Gareth Thomas (Labour), Harrow West MP, has added: “The route has been here for decades and it’s not right to block the footpath. I hope the school will listen to the public who use the path.” It is to be hoped that common sense prevails and this doesn’t end up in the courts because the school should not get away with their selfish decision to make this area even more exclusive. Why not add your weight to this argument and let the school know you want to use the path.
George Orwell described doublethink as the act of simultaneously accepting two mutually contradictory beliefs as correct. Put into practice nationally and locally it’s enough to make this grown man cry.

Things to do instead of/as well as crying:

Join The Ramblers
Fit solar panels
Oppose the Thames Estuary airport
Contact Harrow Council about Rights of Way

Support the work of the Ramblers – sponsor me here:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=walkingclasshero

Aloe Blacc – I Need A Dollar
Penguin Cafe Orchestra – Walk Don’t Run
Pink Floyd – Run Like Hell

Useful links:
o The Ramblers
o National Trust
o RSPB
o Friends of the Earth
o 38 Degrees
o George Orwell 
o David Cameron
o John Major
o George Osborne
o Chris Huhne
o Gareth Thomas
o 1984
o DECC 
o DEFRA 
o Green Investment Bank
o Harrow School
o Capital Ring

Listen to:

Stonestorm – Doublethink
British Sea Power – Who’s In Control
Ry Cooder – No Banker Left Behind
Eurythmics – Doubleplusgood
Build Buildings – A Solar Panel
Billy Bragg – We’re Following The Wrong Star
Steve Harley – Harrow On The Hill

Follow me @walkngclasshero

This month we are checking out one of the faintest of the constellations, primarily to offer you the challenge of picking out this obscure group which graces the skies in the region of the Pole Star. During winter evenings, the faint constellation Camelopardalis can be spotted a little to the north of the overhead point. To find it, you first of all need to find Polaris, the Pole Star, shown here on a finder chart which depicts the Plough and Ursa Minor as seen in the northern sky during January evenings. Following a line from Merak, through Dubhe, as shown on the main chart, will lead you to the Pole Star. The stars forming the giraffe can be seen stretching away from the region of Polaris roughly towards the overhead point, and you should be able to pick out the constellation reasonably easily providing the sky is dark, clear and free of moonlight.

The constellation of Camelopardalis is long and straggling and indeed resembles the character it depicts, lying in an area of sky containing no bright stars and which consequently was left blank by Greek astronomers. Camelopardalis was originally devised by the Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius in 1613 and was first depicted graphically in 1624 by the German astronomer Jacob Bartsch who included it in his star chart published that year. The constellation is thought to represent the animal which carried Rebecca on her journey to Canaan and her marriage to Isaac.

Click to enlarge

The brightest star in Camelopardalis is Beta, a yellowish supergiant around a hundred times the size of our Sun and which shines from a distance of well over 1,000 light years. Slightly fainter is the somewhat-unromantically named CS, a bluish star which lies at a distance of around 4,000 light years. Considerably closer than these two is Gamma, a star whose light set off towards us a little over 300 years ago.

Of particular interest in Camelopardalis is Kemble’s Cascade. Named after the Franciscan Friar and amateur astronomer Lucian J. Kemble, this slightly-meandering chain of unrelated stars is a pretty sight when viewed through binoculars. Also known as the Waterfall, it stretches for a distance equal to around five times the diameter of a full Moon. To locate it, start from a point roughly a third of the way from the star BE towards CS.  Kemble’s Cascade can then be seen as a meandering line of stars roughly in the direction of the star 7, one of the southernmost stars in Camelopardalis. If the sky is fairly dark and moonless, and you sweep the area with binoculars, you should easily pick out this pretty collection of stars.

Although not the topic of mythology that some constellations are, why not take a trip outdoors to check out the stars which form this faint constellation, and give yourself a pat on the back if you manage to identify its major stars! Happy stargazing!

Click here for more astronomy tips from Brian Jones.

I think it was Heraclitus who said: ‘Mortals are immortal, immortals mortal, living their death, dying their life’. He’d have said it in ancient Greek of course and I’m not sure I fully understand what it means but it often springs into my mind when I’m looking at a scene that seems to be old and new as well as in the process of change all at the same time.

Take a walk down from Tower Hill towards the Thames using the subway system and stop just before the Tower of London. Fix Heraclitus in your mind and think of his aphorism. Here you can see exposed some of the brickwork from the original Roman wall constructed around 190. Lifting your head you see the Tower where building began just after the conquest in 1066. Shuffle around a bit and crane your neck and you can see City Hall, the home of the Greater London Authority, which was opened in 2002. And dominating this, and seemingly every London skyline, is the nearly completed Shard which is due to open in May 2012. This small snapshot of London shows you the physical manifestation of very nearly 2000 years of building. Paradoxically it manages to convey permanence and flux at one and the same time.

I love London and this combination of dynamism and history is an important part of the charm for me. Indeed I think the best way to experience this is by traipsing about at street level soaking it all in by some strange process of osmosis. Even so every so often I come across a change that fair takes my breath away. Last month I went to see the mighty Chelsea beat Wolves 3-0. I’m coming up to my 50th consecutive year seeing at least one home game at Stamford Bridge. Since I’ve been old enough to drink my pre- or post- (or often both) game ritual involved a visit to the working man’s club in Britannia Street opposite the stadium for a few beers. Imagine my shock last year when I found it had been demolished. Perhaps it was the irony of working men in Chelsea that appealed to me but in many ways I’ll be more able to deal with Chelsea moving away from Stamford Bridge than this. These days I start off with a couple of beers in The Atlas in West Brompton.

During that year I’d been walking around Blackheath and discovered that my old school had been demolished to make way for housing. This change pleased me – housing seems a much better use of the land than the hate ridden place I’d been educated in. However, the houses haven’t yet been built and rather disappointingly the Catholic church had built a bigger and shinier new school across the road. (They’ve changed the saint’s name from Joseph to Matthew though – wonder what that signifies.) If you then add in that the place I first worked other than Saturday jobs was the long closed London Evening News in Bouverie Street and that my first job after uni was in the now rebuilt office block above Cannon Street station I was left with the overwhelming feeling that my past was being re-written around me.

And, of course, it’s not just London that epitomises constant change. (It’s true I’m London-centric but not that much). Whenever I go to Manchester I make sure I visit the site of the Hacienda. The canal side of the new building commemorates the key events of this club. I’m not entirely sure this works for me – it’s almost as if they are apologising for knocking it down. As George Harrison sang: ‘A cloudburst doesn’t last all day’. Sometimes that’s a bit difficult to believe up in Manchester.

Support the work of the Ramblers – sponsor me here:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=walkingclasshero

I completed the Grand Union half marathon in 2 hours 19 minutes. Thanks to everybody who sponsored me.

Aloe Blacc – I Need A Dollar
Moby – Run On
The Rolling Stones – Before They Make Me Run – 2009 Re-Mastered Digital Version

Useful links:

• The Ramblers
• Inner London Ramblers
• Ramblers Board of Trustees
• Heraclitus
• Tower Hill
• London Wall
• Tower of London
• City Hall
• The Shard
• Chelsea FC
• Wolverhampton Wanderers
• The Atlas
• London Evening News
• The Hacienda
• George Harrison

Watch:
George Harrison

Listen to:

The Waterboys – All Things Must Pass
The Webb Sisters – Everything Changes/21
The Faces – Debris
Billy Bragg – Glad and Sorry
Neil Young – My My, Hey Hey – Out Of The Blue Album Version
New Order – Blue Monday

 Follow me @walkngclasshero

Tim Lidstone-Scott, trail manager for the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path, was at the conference, taking careful note of how other trails were funded.

“Particularly prevalent among western trails was the reduced funding, and how to attract private sector investment,” he said. “The Appalachian Trail and Bruce Trail are both run by not-for-profit membership organisations with little direct exchequer funding. Would this model work in the UK?”

For the time being, East Asian trails are booming, and on the island of Jeju the recently-established, easy-going Jeju Olle Trail attracts increasing numbers of trekkers. Riding on the back of the World Trail Conference, the Jeju Olle Walking Festival brought thousands more walkers onto the trail over four days. Television crews from Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and China filmed long lines of walkers whose passion and enthusiasm was awe-inspiring.

The Jeju Olle Trail has forged links with trails in Canada and Switzerland, as well as with Britain’s Cotswold Way. Similar ‘Friendship Trails’ will no doubt appear around the world in due course.

Clearly, the whole walking scene in East Asia is growing with considerable vigour, and it may be that we in the West will be looking more and more at how they develop and manage their trails and events. For the time being, the World Trail Conference closed by launching the World Trail Network, aiming to keep the world’s trail managers in touch with each other, sharing ideas and expertise.

Find out more

World Trail Network: www.worldtrail.org

Jeju Olle Trail: www.jejuolle.org

Jeju Olle Walking Festival: www.ollewalking.co.kr

Pictures top to bottom

Cultural entertainment forms part of the Jeju Olle Walking Festival.

Tim Lidstone-Scott at the launch of the Cotswold Way / Jeju Olle Friendship Trail.

One step at a time – onwards and upwards on the Jeju Olle Trail.

The Jeju Olle Trail is designed for easy-going long-distance strollers.

Alternative names for this tiny constellation include Delta, or Deltaton, by which it was known to Greek and Roman astronomers due to the resemblance of the constellation to the Greek capital letter Delta (Δ) leading also to ‘Home of the Nile’ or ‘Gift of the Nile’, which names reflected the general shape with that of the Nile Delta. The Latin author Hyginus recorded that the group was considered by some astronomers to have a shape not unlike that of the island of Sicily, home of Ceres, the goddess of agriculture and an island originally known as Trinacria due to its three promontories.

Alpha, along with Beta, were known as Al Mizan, the Scale-beam, to Arabic astronomers.

Triangulum plays host to the spiral galaxy M33, also know as the Triangulum Spiral galaxy or Pinwheel Galaxy. Discovered by the French astronomer Charles Messier in 1764, this object is a member of what is known as the Local Group, a collection of galaxies of which our own Milky Way galaxy is also a member (as is the Andromeda Spiral galaxy featured in last month’s blog). Lying at a distance of around 2.4 million light years, M33 has a tiny nucleus and huge sweeping spiral arms.

M33 has a very low surface brightness and is easily blotted out by moonlight. However, if the sky is really dark and clear, and you have a good pair of binoculars, you may be able to locate the galaxy by following the line of stars from Alpha as shown on the accompanying finder chart. The rule is to look for a faint and extensive patch of light rather than a more concentrated light source. If you can mount your binoculars on a camera tripod that will help in picking out objects such as the Triangulum Spiral.

While you’re looking at Triangulum, check out the much-smaller triangle of fainter stars located just to the southeast of the group. This is Triangulum Minor and was introduced to star charts by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius in 1687. This tiny triangle of faint stars is no longer recognised as an individual constellation on modern star charts.

Take a trip to check out what this tiny constellation has to offer and to search for the elusive Triangulum Spiral galaxy! Happy stargazing!

Click here for more astronomy tips from Brian Jones.

If you are walking by the shore this winter look out for the small shellfish locally available; cockles, mussels and winkles can be enjoyed throughout the winter months too, but do be sure of your identification, ensure the foraged food is fresh and undamaged. If in doubt – leave it out! And remember, you are not allowed to dig up wild plants unless they are growing on someones land that you can ask permission from.

Sheila’s Winter 2011 Recipes

Preserved Horseradish

Horseradish root (pictured left)

Vinegar – white wine is best

Double cream

Horseradish root is usually picked late in the year once the leaves have died down following the first of the hard frosts. Dig up the large, often quite long, tap root and scrub clean before peeling. The root can then be grated, either by hand or in a food processor, then place immediately in a bowl and mix with sufficient vinegar to just cover.  If you leave the grated root too long out of the vinegar it will discolour and be unappetising. You can use it like this, keeping in the fridge for up to 6 months. To make a sauce just drain some of the horseradish off the vinegar and mix with double cream to serve. Watch out – it can be quite hot!

Jelly Ear Hash

Serves 2

6 – 8 Jelly Ears, depending on size

500g potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 onion, sliced

1 small pkt pancetta lardons

15g mixed dried mushrooms

1 clove of garlic, crushed

Stock for soaking

Rapeseed oil

Seasoning

First reconstitute the dried mushrooms by soaking in a little stock for several minutes then wash and thinly slice the Jelly Ears which can also be added to the stock.  Lightly par-boil the potatoes and drain well. In a large frying pan fry the onion and lardons until soft but not browned, add the potatoes and garlic to the pan together with the drained mushrooms, season to taste. Cook gently until the potatoes are nicely browned and the mushrooms cooked through.

Serve with a little mushroom or brown sauce sprinkled over for an extra bit of oomph! Or even better drizzle with a little truffle oil for a really impressive finish!

Click here for more recipes and wild food writing by Sheila Spence.

I wonder how many of us can remember the first really big hill we climbed? That experience of wonder and passion as you look down from the summit to see an expanse of greens and blues below and above. There is no doubt in my mind that whatever our personal beliefs, feeling the beauty and power of landscape unencumbered by machines and human noise is one of life’s great spiritual connections. It’s about love.

The first big hill I climbed, at about 12 years old, was Snowdon. Subsequently, I have had the privilege to visit the Andes and walk up to a point near Machu Picchu. I could look down 3,000 metres to a river bed and lush tropical forest, and up 2,500 metres to massive snowy peaks, all the while knowing that it had taken me four days on foot just to get there. What a sensation! The fact that you sweated your way up the hill and burst your lungs to arrive at that point becomes an integral part of the experience. It was all worthwhile.

It’s entirely natural that we would want our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren to be able to feel that same wonder. And therein lies the core of sustainability: we want to keep the world for future generations. But do we stop to think at any point on our hikes about the fuel we burned to arrive at the start of our walk, or the energy and materials consumed in the clothing we wore to protect us from squalls and downpours? Or the wear on the pathway that we used to bring us to that point, that may be destroying the very hills that we care for so much?

Walkers are as concerned with the bigger picture of global warming and environmental manufacturing as they are with footpaths and countryside protection. We all want to be green, but we need to tread a path between being an environmental Taliban or eco-puritan and being an irresponsible outdoor hedonist. We must not ban the music of trekking in wild places, but equally we should keep 4×4 drivers out of irreplaceable avian habitats in wetland national parks.

So here are my top five steps for going greener:

• Get yourself more informed, and therefore motivated. Become more aware and you will become more motivated to act. I was spurred to act when I attended an international conference in Perth in 2005 about change in the mountains. That was when I first appreciated the scale of the problem through listening to informed scientists from the Mountain Research Institute. If you want to read more about environmental change, the BBC News, Met Office, and New Scientist websites are excellent.

•Start small and improve. Continuous, small improvements are infinitely better than no improvement. Just getting a few more waste bins for your kitchen is a small investment which makes recycling easier. At Nikwax, we have reduced our energy consumption and are now putting in solar panels and using rainwater for some of our production.

•Support companies that take the environment seriously. A retailer once told me: “We want to be seen to be green, so you need to make your label greener.” I nearly boiled over! Look deeper than the eco-label – progress is about empirical, measurable, verifiable action. Starting questions might be: Does the company have a corporate and social responsibility document? Are they audited? Do they declare how they measure their environmental impact? If any of the answers are no, then you may as well ignore their environmental claims.

•Support people who communicate the importance of the environment and work on protecting it. Get involved in spreading the word: sustainability is not about pain and self-flagellation, it’s about intelligent living and looking after the global family. Working with a green organisation is a good idea. Nikwax and Páramo support the World Land Trust and use them to offset carbon emissions. I am on the governing body of EOCA, the European Outdoor Conservation Association, which collects money from outdoor companies to support conservation projects.

•Don’t get stuck in the past. We’ve already changed our environment and massive change is now inevitable. But a sustainable approach is about adaptation and conservation in a changing world, and approaching life in this way will ensure a brighter future for our global family.

Finally, remember that none of us can be perfect. But if we aim for continuous improvement and positive compromise, there is a chance of a better future for the generations to come.

Short walks, long walks, fast walks, slow walks, urban walks, country walks, walks with or without dogs, evening walks, morning walks, weekend walks… the Ramblers’ amazing programme of 38,000 walks each year – all of them led by volunteers – has something for every taste. And if walking in groups isn’t your thing, we’ve also got plenty of ideas for routes you can do on your own or with family, such as the routecards in every edition of this very magazine.

But members’ subscriptions don’t just pay for getting people out walking. They also ensure we can continue our work as the guardians of footpaths, access land, and other places people love to walk. If it wasn’t for Ramblers members and volunteers, the unique network of footpaths that criss-cross Britain and allow access to our countryside would rapidly disintegrate. The freedoms that we all enjoy to wander across mountain, moorland and heath would be eroded. Our work to protect Britain’s forests, promote the walking route around England and Wales’ coastline and stop damaging development would cease.

In the past year, at least 500 footpaths have been opened or improved thanks to the work of the Ramblers. With local authority budgets being tight at the moment, more Ramblers groups are actually rolling up their sleeves and helping to do the work themselves. We’ve been running training for volunteers – paid for from members’ subs – on how to do practical path work, such as fixing stiles, clearing back overgrowth, and removing obstacles – click here to read this month’s feature about this vital work.

Finally, after just over four years at the Ramblers, I’m moving on to become chief executive of Think Global, a charity that promotes understanding of global issues, such as poverty and climate change. I’ll still be keeping in close contact, particularly through my work on the Independent Panel on Forestry, and a new chief executive for the Ramblers will be appointed soon. May I wish you all the very best with your continuing and vital work.

L is for Landlady 

We arrived leg-weary, blistered, peat-smeared and hungry. For our modest fee we got a dinner of rubber chicken, a breakfast of rubber bacon, and a twin ‘room’ in the attic which was half of a DIY division of one of those Victorian skivvy’s bedrooms you couldn’t swing a rat round. The nether regions of our half bulged hardboardily out over a hairpin bend in the staircase, so that you had to bend into a hairpin yourself to manoeuvre into the apartment. The 30W bulb dangled shadeless from the ceiling of the other room, shedding a tenth of its sickly light into ours. All night came the drain-clearing snoring of a 20-stone (each) couple from Birmingham, with whom we’d shared the rubber chicken and the solace of a very loud TV, and whose offer of a good rub-down with oils Dad had regretfully declined.

The sheets? Pink, winceyette, slithered on to the floor. The beer? Unspeakable. The moral? Research before you leap. And be thankful it’s the 21st century next time you’re booking your stopovers.

The motivation to get out and about on the short, cold and often grey winter days can be difficult to come by. However, the winter months are one of the best times of the year to experience some truly spectacular wildlife events.

Large numbers of birds, for instance, choose to spend the winter months here in the UK, escaping the much harsher conditions of a winter further north and in Eastern Europe. Around a quarter of a million geese from as far away as Greenland and Svalbard will gather at traditional wintering grounds – these will include Brent Geese on saltmarshes around our coasts, Barnacle Geese on the inner Hebrides and the Solway firth and Pink-footed Geese in north Norfolk, Lancashire and the east coast of Scotland. There is arguably nothing more evocative than the sight and sound of geese coming into to roost on a winter’s evening and this can be experienced at many sites across the UK. Holkham in Norfolk, Martin Mere in Lancashire and Loch of Strathbeg, Aberdeenshire are some of the best to see Pink-footed Geese, whilst Wexford Slobs, Co Wexford, Ireland and Slimbridge in Gloucestershire offer the same experience with White-fronted Geese. However, flocks of geese can be seen on the move almost anywhere in the country, particularly when snow covers favoured feeding areas.

Around 15,000 winter swans, Whooper (pictured left) and Bewick’s, spend the winter here and a visit to the Ouse Washes on the Norfolk/Cambridgeshire border to see a large number of both of these is a must. The sight of these Arctic wanderers flying onto the wash after a day spent feeding on the surrounding farmland is one not to be missed.

You don’t have to go on a wildfowl outing to experience our winter visitors, as the winter progresses many of them will venture into our parks and gardens. Redwings (below) and Fieldfares, thrushes from northern Europe will spend the early part of the winter feeding on hedgerow berries out in the countryside but as the winter progresses and these begin to run out, the berries of ornamental shrubs and fallen apples in our gardens are difficult to resist.

Redpolls, Siskins and Bramblings, northern finches, will also come into gardens in search of food as the seeds of beech, pine, alder and birch become harder to get at. Hanging feeders filled with sunflower hearts, nyger seed or a seed mix can attract large numbers of these birds, particularly during periods on prolonged frost and snow.
What is arguably one of nature’s most spectacular shows will be playing out every evening for the next two or three months as large flocks of Starlings (below) gather to roost, sweeping across the sky in ever changing formations before plunging to the safety of the chosen roost site. Ham Walls in Somerset, Aberystwyth Pier in Ceredigion, Brighton Pier in West Sussex and Gretna in Dumfries and Galloway are some of the most spectacular.

Closer to home, many supermarket buildings provide the ideal conditions for roosting Pied Wagtails and whilst they don’t form swirling clouds like the Starlings, they can gather in impressive numbers, and their charming chattering as they settle down for the night can be a lovely end to a winters day. Waxwings (below) are also attracted to supermarket car parks, or more importantly to the ornamental berry producing shrubs that are such a feature of these car parks, and bring a touch of the exotic as they acrobatically feed on clusters of red, yellow and white berries, definitely one to keep an eye out for.

At this time of the year one of our smallest birds, the Wren, also forms communal roosts and often choose a nest box in which to shelter from the cold weather, sharing the body heat of other Wrens in the roost to stave off freezing temperatures. Sixty-four Wrens were found in one nest box, by far the largest number ever encountered. They arrive just as it is getting dark and leave just as it is getting light and so can be easily missed.

So get out and about this winter and enjoy some of our northern visitors while they are here, and don’t forget to keep your eye out closer to home – you never know what you might see.

For more on birds and birdwatching, visit the British Trust for Ornithology.

All images © Andy Mason except image of Starlings © Jill Pakenham/BTO.