Amy-Jane Beer

Wild Finca, a 13-hectare farm in Asturias run by Luke Massey and Katie Stacey, has developed into a highly biodiverse habitat in just eight years, demonstrating that rewilding can succeed on a small scale. The farm supports numerous species while facing opposition from commercial interests, hunters and conservative local attitudes, although it also has support from neighbours and local figures. Wider environmental pressures include tourism development and the Asturian government’s planned cull of 67 wolves from a regional population of about 400.

A visit to a nature-conscious farm in North Yorkshire reveals a thriving population of about a dozen hares amid diverse habitats, insects and other wildlife. The hares are portrayed as striking, wary and enigmatic, while the piece contrasts their apparent security in this well-managed landscape with the wider persecution they face, particularly from hare coursing linked to organised crime.

Horsey Island in Essex’s Hamford Water, accessible only with the farmer’s permission and at low tide, inspired Arthur Ransome’s Secret Water. The island is now home to the Backhouse family, livestock and extensive birdlife, including nesting little terns, avocets, lapwings and oystercatchers. Joe and Vicky Backhouse are restoring wildflower areas and using dredged mud from Felixstowe port to raise marshland threatened by sea-level rise and heavy winter grazing by geese.

A visit to Poland’s Biebrza marshes reveals an extraordinary abundance of wildlife, including elks, orchids, eagles, storks, cranes and beavers, as well as striking predator-prey interactions. The landscape’s river-fed wetlands offer a contrast to Britain, where habitats have been diminished by the pursuit of productivity and profit. Rather than remaining simply depressing, the comparison becomes a recalibration of what healthy, diverse ecosystems can look like.

A visit to Hood Hill in North Yorkshire explores the summit’s striking landscape, prehistoric earthworks, glacial boulders and dense accumulation of local stories. The account recounts a legend recorded by folklorist Thomas Gill in which Satan transported the Altar Stone from Roulston, and connects the tale to possible folk memories of the Brigantes and pre-Roman Britain. The stone was destroyed in 1954 when an RAF Sabre F Mk4 crashed into it, adding a modern layer to the hill’s unusual history.

While recovering from surgery, personal loss and a difficult winter, the writer finds solace in closely observing spring from her garden in Welburn, North Yorkshire. Early butterflies, wild garlic, migrant birds and the bursting buds of a grafted greengage-blackthorn tree become reminders of nature’s resilience. The article explains that the hydraulic pressure driving leaf growth can exceed that of a car tyre, presenting fragile-looking plants as sources of hidden strength.

A visit to the Wold Cottage meteorite monument in East Yorkshire inspires reflection on the extraordinary fact that a 4.56-billion-year-old meteorite fell in an otherwise unremarkable field in 1795. The piece connects this historical event with the writer’s enjoyment of Mackenzie Crook’s BBC series Small Prophets, in which a meteorite lands in suburban Manchester, presenting both coincidences as reminders that unexpected wonder can emerge anywhere.

After the death of her sister Nic from aggressive cancer, Amy-Jane Beer recounts two poignant encounters with birds. A starling that fell from a murmuration died despite her efforts and was buried under a damson tree, while a robin flew into her bedroom before the funeral and seemed to offer a moment of connection and farewell. Beer accepts these encounters as gifts that helped her grieve and reminded her to remain open to life and change.

A family attends a lime-pointing workshop in Dewsbury to learn how to repair a stone house in Welburn, North Yorkshire. The article explains the history and chemistry of lime, contrasts breathable lime mortar with water-trapping cement, and highlights lime’s sustainability, durability, self-healing properties and reusability. The family successfully completes a small section of pointing but faces the larger task of restoring the whole house.

A visit to the tiny City of Troy turf maze at Dalby-cum-Skewsby in North Yorkshire reveals a historically layered landscape that the writer had previously overlooked. The maze, possibly the smallest in Europe, is linked to Scandinavian Trojaborg traditions, Viking-era place names and a nearby prehistoric burial mound that may have served as a focus for later spiritual practices. Walking its seven rings prompts reflections on place, history and changing perspectives.

A previously damaged washpit on a farm in the Yorkshire Wolds has been restored with help from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and its conservationist Jon Traill. Once an expanse of mud, the pond now holds clear water and provides a valuable chalkland habitat, illustrating how practical support and cooperation with farmers can benefit both wildlife and the wider landscape.

Amy-Jane Beer describes the Stockholm archipelago as a watery counterpart to England’s Lake District, comprising thousands of islands, islets and skerries in the Baltic. She explains its brackish, nearly tidal-free waters, ice-shaped geology and ongoing post-glacial uplift, while noting environmental pressures from climate warming and agricultural nutrient pollution. A proposed national park could help protect the region, although restrictions and increased tourism are controversial among residents.