Bog Myrtle & Peat

This has been a winter for woodpigeons. They darken the sky in their shoals, and I can stand back, complete a task and look up again to find the same flock still passing. They turn and drive above the hill, and the twig stems bend beneath them. I mark them well in their own right,… Continue reading

The sun came up and found the old place lying as it always does in a mess of salt water and granite. Judging by the hazel banks and the fingery stems of the myrtle, you’d hardly know a thing had changed since yesterday. Fair enough, there was a din in the darkness towards midnight –… Continue reading

It’s a hard to keep your chin up at this time of year, and that’s when things are going well. This winter has come blue and godawful, and it’s tough to find daylight in a relentless screed of dusk and rain. In moving some old files, I stumbled upon a photograph which I took one… Continue reading

It turns out that I’m an ecotourist – I’m one of those people who travel around looking at nature. Ecotourism has come into sharp focus over the last few years. We’re trying to get a feel for how we can monetise natural assets, and the idea of ecotourism seems to be a nice fit. Conserve… Continue reading

Thrilling to find that the cover has now been finalised for my book, which will be out in the spring. The artist and designers have put in some great work on this, and it’s fun to see riggit galloways proudly rendered on the cover. There has been some really positive feedback from people who have… Continue reading

I killed an otter. In truth I couldn’t help it. You can hardly blame me; with hands at ten to two on the steering wheel and a sensible MPH. But in a smear of headlights, he ran under the bumper and was done. I rumbled him over and felt his bones busting on the sump.… Continue reading

There’s no end to these turnips, and perhaps for the first time I begin to think that it’s not much fun anymore. There’s so much to shift and cleave and haul, and the flex of my fingers is failing. That’s seven tons lifted, cleaned and fed to the beasts, and I reckon there’s another ten… Continue reading

I’ve spent the last few weeks travelling around Galloway speaking to hill farmers and people who manage land in marginal places. This has all been part of a bigger project (which will get bigger in 2020), but it’s given me a great excuse to meet people and find out more about what’s happening in the… Continue reading

I watch two harriers going to roost beyond the turnip field. They’ve been hunting through the shaws and the deep grass all afternoon, and I see them seizing small birds in the rain. They’re females; ringtails, and I turn for home when they sink at last into the rushes. These birds have been around for… Continue reading

Behold the forest bison; see him bathe in a pool of his own hot coughing. There’s nothing spare or useless about this animal. Every inch of him is lithe and front-loaded for action – he’s stacked and ribby as a steel bar. I daresay his horns have some peaceful purpose, but from where I’m standing… Continue reading