'Slow Northumberland and Durham' is a new travel guidebook I'm writing. The book is being published by Bradt Travel Guides as part of their Slow series of regional guides ('local, characterful guides to Britain's special places') and will be available in bookshops (and Amazon) from mid-June 2012.
In the spirit of the book's title, I'm covering a lot of ground by foot and by bike. I've found that by travelling this way, I've chanced upon places that I might not have come across otherwise, like the patch of ancient woodland in the West End of Newcastle that I never knew existed and the Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade Watch House which is a gem of a museum tucked away at the mouth of the Tyne.
I interviewed the actress and animal campaigner, Virginia McKenna recently. She's had an extraordinary life and it was wonderful listening to her tales of working with lions - both on the film set of Born Free and in her campaign and conservation work.
Cemeteries and churchyards are fantastically important refuges for wildlife. I've been interested in the ecology of burial grounds for a long time so I was very pleased when BBC Countryfile asked me to write a feature about these special island nature reserves. Many burial grounds were created from flower rich meadows and ancient woodlands many centuries ago and contain an assemblage of plants and animals rarely seen in the wider countryside today.
I spent a lot of time in Kent earlier this year, mainly for BBC Countryfile Magazine and Kent County Council. The Medway is not a place you'd normally think of visiting for a walk or to see wildlife, but I found it to be a very rich landscape with much wildlife and archeological interest. The Neolithic monuments, for which the Medway Valley is famed, have endured for several thousand years despite being positioned in a highly developed and busy corner of England. I hiked along the ancient North Downs Way and visited some wet meadows where I heard the unmistakable 'plop' of a water vole belly-flopping into a dyke. I noticed that he (or she) had been dining on common-spotted orchids.
I am a freelance journalist specialising in natural history, heritage, travel and the environment. Most of my work is for magazines though I am currently working on a guidebook to Northumberland and Durham for Bradt Travel Guides.
As well as writing, I take on photography commissions and work for conservation charities on environmental and wildlife projects in the UK and abroad. Previous jobs include coordinating a hen harrier protection project for the RSPB, a funghi survey for the National Trust and a community development project in Transylvania for BTCV. I am currently developing my interest in cities and green urban design at UCL.
All photos on this website were taken by me.
