Swallowtail
by Will Burns. I saw it dive and swim a distance and I thought I remembered something vaguely. I carried on after it, up the canal, back the way I had come from. I watched it surface, and float along and then dive again, over and over. The water was clear, and you could see [...]
Worming for Barbel, 1952
From Country Life, November 1952. Click on the image to enlarge.
Letter From Arcadia
Pestilance. dp hearty thanks for your telegram from a distant european autumn. a welcome message of solidarity dropped in an empty bottle of pelforth, left on a table outside the bar on the corner of the boulevard of broken dreams. back in blighty it is not mushroom clouds that fill the mind but hordes of [...]
My Friend Eric
28 October 2009 // Film/TV //Miscellany
A film by Justin Partyka. In early 2008 Justin Partyka acquired a small digital camera. The camera sat around gathering dust until he discovered it had a video function. Intrigued by the idea of carrying a “video camera” in his pocket, Partyka started to take the camera to the fields and farms he visits for [...]
Owl In A Box
We got forwarded this this morning, loved it, had to post – one seriously pissed off owl in a cardboard box.
For Poachers Only
Alexander Jardine illustration from Jack Chance’s ‘For Poachers Only. See more plus illustrations by Bernard Venables, in the gallery.
The Running Sky: A Birdwatching Life
Tim Dee at Foyles, Charing Cross Road, London WC2 on Tuesday 27 October, 6.30pm. Tickets free, email events@foyles.co.uk to reserve a place. In his memoir, The Running Sky: A Birdwatching Life Tim Dee records a lifetime of looking at birds. Mapping his observations and encounters over four decades, he tracks birds both well-known and bizarre [...]
The Bird Effect Diaries
26 October 2009 // The Bird Effect
The diary of the making of a film. and an on going fascination with birds and their accompanying cast of human characters. By Ceri Levy. Previous entries can be read by clicking here. September 6th A moment of reflection. My job as a documentary maker is to pass on messages from the people I meet. [...]
The Oxford Canal, from Oxford to Kidlington
23 October 2009 // Miscellany //On Water
By Jonathan Newdick We walk on the uneven pavement of the ring road: self-conscious ice rink and Carpets-2-go, bright orange against the blue October sky. Orange balloons tied to the lamp post as if Carpets-2-go is having a party. But it’s deserted. ‘free underlay free fitting kit’ shout the posters as the customer advisers stand [...]
First Cast at the Loch of the Green Corrie
22 October 2009 // Arcadia //Books
by Andrew Greig. the third and final installment: The Loch of the Green Corrie has a silence that is not silent. Lying there I can hear air drift through heather and over rock and water. Air and invisible streams are gathered and reflected back by the slopes that soar around us, as though we lie [...]
Caught by the River