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the_reading_wren's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
My book of the year perhaps?!
Schofield is the Site Manager of RSPB Haweswater reserve, an ecologist and – it turns out – an enthralling writer. This book is his manifesto for Haweswater and an emotional journey through the past, present and into the future of the Lake District.
I felt like I was squelching through bogs, climbing crags and planting trees next to Schofield on his botanical adventures around Haweswater and his expeditions to uplands elsewhere in the Lakes, Scotland and as far as Norway. The wildlife, landscape and people are depicted with heart and straightforwardness, which puts them centre-stage (and is refreshing for the genre!).
I dove into this book with a determination to extract as much knowledge as I could before I had to return it to the library, tackling the task with notebook and wildlife guides at the ready. A few of the plants are illustrated with line drawings, but I wish the book had included some pages of colour photos of the most frequently mentioned species so that I wouldn’t have had to flick through my ID guides every few minutes to complete the images in my imagination (but that’s just up to me being super nerdy!). The introduction does include a handy map of the reserve and glossary of regional terms with etymological notes, which was a valuable addition. I loved every page and learned a great deal about the intricacies of conservation work in the UK – and my plant ID skills have benefited too!
The biggest lesson I took from Wild Fell is the importance of community in any field of work, and how much more can be achieved when individuals, land owners and organisations all work together with the local community in the lead. ‘No one person can bring that perfect world into being. It will be made possible by countless individual actors and their innumerable decisions about how to tend to their own land, nudged by policy and people, economy and ecology.’
The biggest lesson I took from Wild Fell is the importance of community in any field of work, and how much more can be achieved when individuals, land owners and organisations all work together with the local community in the lead. ‘No one person can bring that perfect world into being. It will be made possible by countless individual actors and their innumerable decisions about how to tend to their own land, nudged by policy and people, economy and ecology.’
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death
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