wonderful Britain!!

[goosey]

I think Bitain has the most wonderful and diverse landcapes and wildlife you can hope to see. Before we moved to Holland, the Lake District was on our Doorstep, but we took absolutely no notice of it - it was just there! Now I cant wait for holidays and the chance to walk and explore the place I use to ignore - shame on me. Apart from Cumbria we 've started going to North Yorkshire, but there is so much I want to see now, especially Cornwall and Northumberland. The great thing is that once we are "out and about" our teenage kids love it just as much as we do, and their love and respect for the great outdoors has started a long term love affair for it and nature- can't be bad!

[rlchew]

Originally Posted by goosey

I think Bitain has the most wonderful and diverse landcapes and wildlife you can hope to see.

I totally agree.

Britain is small in comparison to many nations but it does indeed have so many varied landscapes supporting a wide diversity of wildlife. Whilst we hear a lot about habitat destruction, there is a huge amount of positive conservation work going on to protect or reinstate our natural habitats.

I fail to see the attraction in flying to the Med each year to sit in the sun for 2 weeks doing nothing. It is some years since I had a foreign holiday but even then the beach was not for me. I was always out wildlife watching or enjoying the scenery, history and culture of a foreign country.

On a grey and drizzly January morning in Essex, I am looking forward to my trips to Norfolk, the Yorkshire Dales, Wales, the Scottish Highlands, etc. again this year .... wonderful Britain indeed!

Richard

[Monkster]

Too Right Goosey!!
Cumbria is a great place to be with the beautiful landscapes of the Lake District and surrounding areas.
I never took much notice of it when I was younger either, but I think getting older and the invention of the Digital Camera (with instant images I can edit myself ) has unearthed a passion for wildlife that makes me want to see and learn more.
And what a bonus having children that like the same things as you!!
I think I might just go and charge up my batteries (camera) now and see what's ventured out on this beautiful, but cold, sunny day

[Kymba]

We use to take my youngest two up onto dartmoor regularly Letter Boxing.. They use to really enjoy these outings as they got to see and enjoy lots of Wildlife and Plants...(and managed to find a Few letter Box stamps to!!) it also got them out into the fresh air instead of stuck indoors watching TV or playing on their computors!!

[John]

I have traveled the length of Britain for most of my adult life. Steam engine driver on the Railways in the 60's followed by long distance lorry driver through the 70's and up to the 90's.

Now with my birdwatching hobby I have actually extended my boundaries in Britain (apart from Northern Ireland where I haven't been yet) and there is only two small pockets (Stanraer and Wick) that I haven't been to.

Britain is a beautiful island full of stunning landscapes and wildlife and we are lucky to live on an island that does have all these varied habitats within its shores. I will never tire of driving anywhere in the UK. However I do go abroad each year (twice if I can manage it) and have to say that if you make the decision not to go abroad you are missing out on landscapes and wildlife that you could only dream about on our island.

After all we have virtually all our life on the island so give yourselves a chance to see the beauty of other places, but like Richew, not from a beach but out in the sticks where the real people and the wildlife is.

Because I know the UK so well I am one of the biggest advocates of traveling around it but when I hear people say that they will never go abroad because nowhere is as beautiful as the UK I have to cringe because it just isn't true.

John

[ron1863]

Originally Posted by rlchew

I totally agree.

Britain is small in comparison to many nations but it does indeed have so many varied landscapes supporting a wide diversity of wildlife. Whilst we hear a lot about habitat destruction, there is a huge amount of positive conservation work going on to protect or reinstate our natural habitats.

I fail to see the attraction in flying to the Med each year to sit in the sun for 2 weeks doing nothing. It is some years since I had a foreign holiday but even then the beach was not for me. I was always out wildlife watching or enjoying the scenery, history and culture of a foreign country.

On a grey and drizzly January morning in Essex, I am looking forward to my trips to Norfolk, the Yorkshire Dales, Wales, the Scottish Highlands, etc. again this year .... wonderful Britain indeed!

Richard

Totally agree with you. I also hate lying on a beach and always end up exploring. We bought a house in the Jaen region of Spain and the scenery and wildlife there is fantastic. So I am lucky in that I live 30 minutes from Loch Lomond and when in Spain can photograph the wildlife and scenery there.

[badgerwatcher]

We travel a lot with our work, and are constantly delighted with the diversity and fascination of this country. Delightful tiny villages with duck ponds and cottage gardens dripping with flowers, graceful sweeping hills, misty woodlands, even motorways with kestrals hovering along their lengths. It's all delightful.
With the possible exception of the M25

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by badgerwatcher

We travel a lot with our work, and are constantly delighted with the diversity and fascination of this country. Delightful tiny villages with duck ponds and cottage gardens dripping with flowers, graceful sweeping hills, misty woodlands, even motorways with kestrals hovering along their lengths. It's all delightful.
With the possible exception of the M25

Strangely Badgerwatcher-if you get stuck on the M25, like we frequently do, watch out for fungi on the verges, michaelmas daises in the north part in autumn, fields full of canada geese, travelling north from the tunnel (no, not the geese ), kestrels hovering, carrion crows clearing up roadkill,woodpigeon roosts and heading through Hertfordshire, some really beautiful ancient oaks.

Nature fights back.

[rlchew]

Originally Posted by Wild-Woman

Strangely Badgerwatcher-if you get stuck on the M25, like we frequently do, watch out for fungi on the verges, michaelmas daises in the north part in autumn, fields full of canada geese, travelling north from the tunnel (no, not the geese ), kestrels hovering, carrion crows clearing up roadkill,woodpigeon roosts and heading through Hertfordshire, some really beautiful ancient oaks.

Nature fights back.

.... plus I have seen a Barn Owl during the early hours on the Essex stretch and a Common Buzzard up near the M40 intersection .... perhaps it will not be long until the M40/Chilterns Red Kites become a M25 tick!

Richard

[badgerwatcher]

Oh, I know. You do see some good things, but the slowness often means that most of our time there is dark! But I didn't mean to change the subject.
I love the scenery of England, and Wales, haven't made it to Eireland or Scotland yet but want to. The wonderful hidden lanes, like green tunnels of filtered sunlight, with fruitcake-ririch mossy, ferny banks, the luscious thicks woods, with furry clumps of sweet chestnuts, and filmy beeches, the high flat moors that make me feel as if I'm in one of those 'snow-storm globes', with the huge expanses of sky, the varied coastlines with 'kiss-me-quick-hat' resorts that smell of candyfloss and fish and chips. It's all wonderful!