Category: Notes from the sticks

THERE is nothing like the call of the curlew. Perhaps it’s more evocative than any other sound of the uplands in spring. However it is heard less frequently these days … Continue readingCurlews calling

LAST week I wrote that spring had not arrived in Lancashire. This week we have had some lovely sunshine but it is close to or below freezing at night, so … Continue readingThe great nectar robbery

AT THIS time of year it can seem as if spring will never arrive in Lancashire. Night-time temperatures are forecast to be around 2 or 3 degrees C until the … Continue readingSpring unsprung

WE ARE very fortunate to have eels in our stream. The bank on our side was reconstructed some years ago with massive boulders brought in by crane, and at one point … Continue readingWell Eeled

Notes from the sticks: Maladjusted mallards WE always have some mallards hanging around on our stream and on the bank, usually a pair or two, sometimes 20 or 30. Of course … Continue readingMaladjusted mallards

I HAVE been told that when I was four or five years old I was pushing a toy pram around when a neighbour asked to see my doll. Apparently she … Continue readingThe wonderful world of worms

IN the summer I was looking at the flowering plants I have in pots along the south-facing front of the house when I saw a hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum). I … Continue readingA hummer in the summer

WHEN Storm Ciara arrived last weekend, it was one of the few occasions I can remember when the weather warnings turned out to be accurate. In Lancashire we were lashed … Continue readingRubble by the Ribble

ONCE or twice a month I travel by train from our nearest town, Clitheroe, to London. The journey from Clitheroe on a branch line to the mainline station at Preston … Continue readingHS2? Just give us better branch lines

WHEN we lived in the south London suburbs I didn’t think a lot about sheep, but I suppose I fell in with the assumption that they are timid and stupid. … Continue readingDefiance of the lambs