5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS MONTH
1 Nature is getting super-charged
A new ‘super’ nature reserve has just been announced in Somerset, spanning 15,000 acres of saltmarsh, heath and wetland between Glastonbury and Bridgwater Bay. It brings together six reserves and other land managed for nature to create a habitat for wildlife like avocets, marsh harriers and hairy dragonflies. It marks the 70th anniversary of Britain’s first National Nature Reserve: there are now over 200 and a festival to celebrate (nnrfestival.com). And there’s more good news for the wild: a rewilded garden featuring a beaver dam won top prize at Chelsea Flower Show; millions of tonnes of earth from Crossrail construction have been used to build islands and lagoons to attract birds at Wallasea Island in Essex; and the Eden Project has created an ‘edible’ golf course near Lostwithiel, planting fruit and vegetables beside the greens, and managing the rough to encourage wildlife. 2 You might spot treasure in Suffolk
To fans of Detectorists, Framlingham in Suffolk is Danebury, the fictional Essex village home to Lance, Andy and the metal detecting club in the much-loved BBC show. Take a walk there this summer and you might just spot Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones filming, as there’s a new 75-minute special in the pipeline, with writer and director Crook saying, ‘I’ve had a story percolating for a while and I thought it was worth getting Lance, Andy and the rest of the band back together for.’ 5 Vogue’s at war: pub v publisher
THE SWCP IS GETTING MUSICAL
Raynor Winn, bestselling author of
The Salt Path about walking the South West Coast Path, joins The Gigspanner Big Band for a trail-inspired tour in July. Saltlines mixes traditional songs with new words from Winn to celebrate ‘630 uninterrupted miles of coastline, crossing wild headlands with the calls of oystercatchers, and the smell of salt laden air ever present’. See gigspanner.com
Walk into the pub in the Cornish village of Vogue and you’ll see a framed letter from Condé Nast, publishers of the glossy fashion mag: ‘We are concerned that the name you are using is going to cause problems because, as far as the general public is concerned, a connection between your business and ours is likely to be inferred.’ It then asks if the pub might consider a name change. Landlord Mark Graham told the BBC he thought it was a joke, and then wrote back: ‘the village has been here for 200 years, the pub slightly less than that.’ He pondered a counter claim as ‘we were there first’ or making a parish mag called Vogue Magazine. Condé Nast sent an apology ‘from one Vogue to another’ and you can visit the starinnvogue.biz
4 A dog has walked round the world
Seven years, seven continents, 38 countries: a dog called Savannah has just become the first canine to walk round the globe, and her owner the 10th human. Tom Turcich set off from New Jersey in 2015, after a friend’s death at 16 made him realise how fleeting life can be, and four months later in Texas he adopted the pup from a rescue shelter. At first Tom pushed Savannah in his cart, but soon she could walk 30 miles a day with energy to spare. Together they hiked over 25,000 miles, through jungle, desert and mountains, with an icy week in Antarctica. Reflecting on eight birthdays on the road, Tom said: ‘Wander in the unknown. Stray from the routine. New friends and great adventures are out there, but you have to be out there too.’ See theworldwalk.com