Category: Geography & Environment

Geography & Environment

Wildlife Aid Foundation

In Britain, we like to think of ourselves as ‘animal lovers’ and there are many organisations that are devoted to the care […]

In Britain, we like to think of ourselves as ‘animal lovers’ and there are many organisations that are devoted to the care and conservation of domesticated and wild animals. One exampe is the Wildlife Aid Foundation (WAF).

This is a charity that was set up by Simon Cowell, from his home in Leatherhead, Surrey, as a ‘hobby’ back in 1980. It now admits around 20,000 injured or sick wildlife animals each year and has more than three hundred volunteers working in various roles. It has also had its own TV programme for a number of years and has earned Simon a well-deserved MBE!

Animals and birds of all kinds can be taken in and cared for in the WAF hospital while they recover. Simon and his rescue team will also come and free animals from precarious situations, such as being stuck in wire netting. Once they are certain that the animal or bird is fit and healthy, they release it back into the wild, as in this video of Simon with a buzzard, from the WAF YouTube channel:

(Top image: Twitter.com)

06/11/2018
3 min
6 years
180 words

Red squirrels

The red squirrel is native to the UK, going back thousands of years, but its numbers are now a small percentage of […]

The red squirrel is native to the UK, going back thousands of years, but its numbers are now a small percentage of what they once were. This is due to the introduction of the grey squirrel from North America a century ago by aristocrats. The greys can eat unripe nuts, whereas the reds cannot, so many reds have simply starved. Others have died of viruses which do not affect the greys, such as squirrelpox, which the greys carry.

The red squirrel is a protected species in the UK as there are only 138,000 left (RSNE, 2018). Most of these are in Scotland but some are in Wales and northern England.

The visual differences with grey squirrels are that the reds are smaller, they have tufts of fur on their ears and their tails are not banded with different shades of colour. It is not possible to say that one squirrel has red fur, while the other has grey, as both types go through various colours of fur during the year and their lifetimes.

(Image of red squirrel near Loch Spynie, Moray: Walter Baxter at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

28/10/2018
3 min
6 years
187 words

English language / Geography & Environment

What’s the weather like today?

Weather forecasts in the UK are often wrong, due to the ever-changing nature of the jet streams and ocean currents around our […]

Weather forecasts in the UK are often wrong, due to the ever-changing nature of the jet streams and ocean currents around our islands. That makes the weather one of our favourite topics of conversation. Famously, the popular TV weather forecaster Michael Fish (1944-) played down stories of an impending hurricane hitting Britain in October 1987, only to see a night of terrible storms which brought down trees and damaged property all over the country!

Forecasts are broadcast daily on TV, radio and online, and they are never the same for the whole country. As a general rule, it tends to be colder in the north than in the south, giving rise to the derogatory term “southern softies”!

(Image: Iain Cameron at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)

24/10/2018
2 min
6 years
124 words

Geography & Environment

“UK” or “Britain” or … ?

The UK, Great Britain, the British Isles, England… these are not just different names for the same landmass! The differences are illustrated […]

The UK, Great Britain, the British Isles, England… these are not just different names for the same landmass! The differences are illustrated below:-

The British Isles refers to all of the islands, including the country of Ireland.
The United Kingdom‘s full name is ‘the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’ and its abbreviation is ‘the UK’.
Great Britain comprises England, Wales and Scotland (not Northern Ireland) and ‘Great’ is often omitted informally.
England is the largest by size and population of the four constituent nations of the UK.

If this seems confusing for you non-Brits, be assured that even many of those born and raised here are not entirely sure of their own geography! Sad but true.

(Top image: pixabay.com)

20/10/2018
2 min
6 years
125 words

Geography & Environment

Ascension Island

Ascension Island, grouped with St. Helena and Tristan de Cunha islands, is one of fourteen British ‘overseas territories’. It is the tip […]

Ascension Island, grouped with St. Helena and Tristan de Cunha islands, is one of fourteen British ‘overseas territories’. It is the tip of an underwater volcanic system in tropical mid-Atlantic, naturally arid with almost no native vegetation, and was once home to millions of sea birds.

The British were the first people to settle there in 1815 and Charles Darwin (1809-82) visited in 1836. His friend, the botanist Sir James Hooker (1817-1911) made his own trip there in 1843 and on his recommendation, trees and shrubs started to be imported from 1850 onwards in order to make settlement more feasible.

Today, the Island is dominated by a USA military airbase along with various tracking, transmitting and listening stations. In 1982 the Island suddenly hosted an immense increase in traffic, both airborne and maritime, when it became a stopping-off and refuelling point for those involved in the Falklands Conflict.

There is so much that is strange about this island, as this BBC article explains. It is not currently possible to fly to Ascension as a tourist other than from Johannesburg via St. Helena once a month and with a valid entry permit.

*Image: Wellcome Collection at Wikimedia Commons CC BY 4.0*

(Top image: Jerrye & Roy Klotz MD at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0)

18/10/2018
3 min
6 years
205 words

Geography & Environment / History

Hadrian’s Wall

Hadrian’s Wall was constructed in the 2nd century and stretched 73 miles coast-to-coast in northern England. It marked one of the borders […]

Hadrian’s Wall was constructed in the 2nd century and stretched 73 miles coast-to-coast in northern England. It marked one of the borders of the Roman Empire at that time and it took at least six years to build. Parts of it can still be seen today ~ at Birdoswald, for example, which has the longest remaining stretch.

Publius Aelius Hadrianus (76-138AD) was one of the more stable Roman Emperors and his policy was to consolidate the Empire’s territories rather than expand them as his predecessor had done. He was crowned in 117AD and visited Britain 5 years later. It is unclear whether the Wall was already under construction amidst rebellions and raids from the “barbarians” in Scotland, or if it was this visit that prompted Hadrian’s decision to build. A fairly recent discovery of an engraved artefact suggests that the Wall was called ‘Vallum Aelii’ (rampart of Aelius), confirming the connection with Hadrian.

Most of the Wall was of stone but some of it was turf (like the 39-mile ‘Vallum Antonini’ built later on, further north). The remains give only a tiny impression of the enormous structure that it once was, with many forts, gateways and living quarters for soldiers, families and traders.

(Image: Oliver Dixon at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

16/10/2018
3 min
6 years
213 words

English language / Geography & Environment

Land’s End

Land’s End is on the south-western tip of mainland England in the county of Cornwall and the signpost featured above left will […]

Land’s End is on the south-western tip of mainland England in the county of Cornwall and the signpost featured above left will have been photographed by tourists thousands of times over the years, many not paying attention to the lack of an apostrophe! The end of the land makes it Land’s End, not Lands End, which implies the action of multiple lands ending there. Some even put the apostrophe after the wrong letter, i.e. Lands’ End, meaning the end of multiple lands. There is only one England, of course, and thankfully in 2018 Cornwall Council voted to finally remedy the confusion and the apostrophe now takes its rightful place!

Land’s End has spectacular views from its cliff-tops. The cliffs are granite and their steepness attracts many rock-climbers. There is a hotel and a theme park in the vicinity and the landmark is so popular with tourists that they are advised to pre-book their car parking spaces. The nearest town is Penzance, 9 miles away, and the nearest village is Sennen. The A30 road from London finishes at Land’s End, as do many charity runs, walks and drives, having started at John O’Groats, or vice-versa, a distance of 874 miles (according to the signpost).

(Top images LtoR: Lewis Clarke & Rod Allday, both at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

15/10/2018
3 min
6 years
220 words

Geography & Environment

Crown Dependencies

Within the British Isles there are three Crown Dependencies, namely:- the Bailiwick of Jersey the Bailiwick of Guernsey (including Alderney, Sark and […]

Within the British Isles there are three Crown Dependencies, namely:-

the Bailiwick of Jersey
the Bailiwick of Guernsey (including Alderney, Sark and other islands)
the Isle of Man

Together the two Bailiwicks are known as the Channel Islands.

*Image: UKPhoenix79 at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0*

The Crown Dependencies are self-governing possessions of the British monarchy. In the Isle of Man the royal incumbent is called the ‘Lord of Mann’ and in the Channel Islands he or she is called the ‘Duke of Normandy’. Strange but true!

The Crown Dependencies have a special status in that they are neither their own countries nor are they part of the UK and UK law does not apply to them. Instead, they have their own legal, immigration and healthcare systems, albeit with a degree of oversight by the Crown’s representatives. However, their international and defence affairs are looked after by the UK. This situation is very similar to that of the 14 British Overseas Territories, the difference being that the BOTs are geographically well outside of the British Isles.

The featured photograph is of the Parliament (Tynwald) building, known locally as the ‘Wedding Cake’, in Douglas, the capital of the Isle of Man.

(Top image: Andy Stephenson at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

12/10/2018
3 min
6 years
210 words

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Quoting Neil Oliver...

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