Author name: Richard Clarke

The illustration above shows three types of speedwell, a common ground cover wild plant of the British Isles. As is often the case, the Common Speedwell is the least common (as is the case with Common Gulls as often seen at St. Andrew’s Dock, I think now an endangered species). A recent walk with the […]

This photo was taken on 2nd January 2025 in the derelict area of St. Andrew’s Quay which is an excellent site for seeing wild plants that have self seeded or which are perennials over the years that the area has been ‘neglected’, when it eventually gets ‘developed’ it will not be nearly as interesting. As

The picture above comes from Carey, M. and Fitchew D. Wild Flowers at a Glance (London, reprinted 1971), an reference book I have had for over 40 years, much scribbled in. It’s a reference book that uses paintings of plants, the norm back in 1949 when it was first published. More recent reference books tend

Thankfully we have not yet got feedlots in this country, but for how long? What we do have could be argued as being more sinister. We have factory farms, mostly producing chickens and pigs for slaughter, on the continent rabbits, calves and ducks produced by the same system. Factory farms can also exist under water

In the months after Brexit there was much talk about a new trade agreement with the U.S.A., this all overtaken by the pandemic. Although the Conservative government wanted to put a positive spin on new trade deals beyond Europe campaigners in Britain quickly rose to the occasion by stating that the American government would certainly

Above is part of the pre-historic cave paintings at Lascaux in the Dordogne region of south-west France (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International). The creatures that still show clearly are deer (bottom centre), wild horse (top centre) and aurochs (centre right and left). Aurochs are extinct the last recorded female dying in Poland in the 17th