The View
1 There have been wins for wildlife
Last year’s State of Nature report confirmed wildlife in Britain is in alarming decline, but thanks to dedicated conservation work there are some glimmers of hope. In 2023, the RSPB returned beavers to Loch Lomond and water voles to Haweswater in the Lake District, while the red-listed corncrake population in Scotland grew and seabird numbers on Lundy in the Bristol Channel reached levels not seen since the 1930s, thanks to a project to eradicate the island’s rats. The National Trust reported exceptional numbers of natterjack toadlets at Formby in Merseyside and choughs on Cornwall’s Roseland Peninsula, while The Wildlife Trusts counted record glow-worms at Whitecross Green Wood near Oxford and military orchids at Homefield Wood in Buckinghamshire. And for the first time in hundreds of years, a white-tailed eagle fledged in England, at a secret location on the south coast.
2 You can walk a ring around Manchester
Work is underway on a new 200- mile walking route around the city. Starting and finishing in the centre, the GM Ringway will visit all 10 boroughs and explore canals, parks, wetlands and wild moors. Designed to be easily accessible by public transport, all 20 sections of the trail are set to be fully waymarked by summer; see gmringway.org
3 UFOS ARE ON THE MAP
If you want to walk wherealiens might have been, the National UFO Reporting Center has launched a new map pinpointing sightings. The centre is in Washington state but reports are global, with the UK a notable hotspot and green dots signifying recent activity. See nuforc.org/map or turn to p66 in this issue for an extraterrestrial trail in Wales.
5 Shetland joins the space race
Walk at the northern tip of Britain this summer, on the isle of Unst, and it might not be only birds you see in the sky. The remote ex-RAF base at Saxa Vord has become the first spaceport in Scotland, and the first in the UK authorised for vertical rocket launches. Granted in December, its licence permits up to 30 satellite missions a year, with the first lift-off expected later this year. Owners Debbie and Frank Strang also run the local distillery and have said they’re planning celebratory launch cocktails, including one called Buzz Ald-gin. See saxavord.com
4You can help Britain’s footpaths
Arecent report by the BBC revealed almost 32,000 obstructions on Britain’s rights of way. Investigators contacted 118 councils (outside London and national park authorities) asking for the number of blocked paths on file on 31st October 2023, both overgrown ones and
