Working near seabird colonies on cliff edges is one of those experiences that feels both intimate and fragile — up close you can see the earnest business of breeding, but every step or shout risks undoing that work. I’ve carried out surveys along a number of Britain’s coasts, and over time I’ve learned that careful planning, patience and the right kit let you collect useful data without...
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After a long multi-day border hike that threads cliff tops, boggy passes and quiet lanes, I often find myself wanting...
Peat hags — those dark, ragged edges of peatland where the turf has slumped away — catch me every time. They’re...
Finding a brood of sea ducks — eiders, scoters, long-tailed ducks — along Britain's shores is one of those small...
On long, cold marches where the rain never seems to stop and wind bites through layers, keeping your energy up is as much about having the right calories as it is about having food you can eat quickly, cleanly and without leaving a mess. Over years of walking Britain’s coasts and peatlands I’ve...
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I’ve learned the hard way that a long ridge walk is not the place to discover your phone battery is dead and your handheld GPS has been quietly draining itself all morning. Over years on Britain’s windswept edges I’ve settled into a routine of using both a rugged handheld GPS and a smartphone...
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I’m drawn to the edges — where field meets scrub, verge meets meadow, and the thin slice of marginal ground seems to hum with life. On short walks close to home I look for those thin threads of wildflower habitat that punch above their weight for pollinators: a roadside bank of hemp-nettle, a...
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Planning a multi-day border hike that relies on public transport and low-impact wild camping is one of my favourite ways to explore Britain's edges. It combines the logistics of moving between towns and villages, the satisfaction of carrying only what you need, and the quiet reward of spending...
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Paths are the arteries of the landscapes I love. Walk them enough and you start to notice small changes — a new rut in the turf, a muddy ribbon widening across a slope, or stones pushed aside to make a shortcut. Left unchecked, these minor shifts become entrenched erosion: deeper channels, lost...
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When I’m walking upland routes that cross peatlands — whether a wind-scoured bog on a border ridge or a sodden moor beside a coastal climb — I carry two things beyond my map and waterproof: curiosity about how that landscape works, and a simple question: how can I help? Over the years I’ve...
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Peatlands feel like a different world: broad, soft, often silent, with a strange buoyancy underfoot and an honesty about weather — what starts as a light drizzle can become a sodden, wind-lashed slog in minutes. I’ve spent countless days walking across blanket bogs and raised mires around...
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I spend a lot of time photographing seabird colonies around Britain, and one lesson keeps nudging me every time I leave the path: the best images come from patience and respect, not aggression. Nesting birds are especially vulnerable during the breeding season. Disturb them and you can cause adults...
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I’ve stood on more than one exposed headland with a shredded tent fly or a rucksack strap dangling uselessly and that knot-in-the-stomach question — do I try to fix this here, or do I accept defeat and get off the hill? — is one I’ve learned to answer quickly. The difference between a long,...
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I spend a lot of time on peat and heather — the flat, lumpy, wind-bent places where lapwings, curlews and golden plovers feel most at home. Often these birds are heard before they're seen, or gone altogether except for the subtle signatures they leave behind: a half‑moon of footprints in soft...
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