My name is Grant Sherman
When I was one, my family moved to Ilfracombe from Glasgow. They wanted to find somewhere green for my sister and I to grow-up. I remember blue seas and green fields, walks around Cairn, Hillsborough, Capstone, and the Torrs. I remember walks on Braunton Burrows on Exmoor, walks through the woods at Watersmeet and Heddon's Mouth. For my school friends, the coast between Ilfracombe and Lee was our playground. I remember dark skies and twinkling stars.
I studied Astrophysics at Cardiff University, where I also learnt to work in the Student Union bar. It was the start of twenty years affected by alcohol. I failed my degree, but an NVQ in Environmental Conservation (in North Devon) brought me back on track. I retook and passed my degree, I obtained an MSc in Ecology at Warwick University. During this course I had the opportunity to meet Vandana Shiva. But a summer bar brought back the drink problems.
Nature healed me
After eleven years working as barman at the Collingwood Hotel, I needed a change. A day trip to Lundy was the start of thirteen years living and working on Lundy. Lundy healed me. I sobered-up and met my wife. I started a ten season study of seabirds (Ecology of Common Guillemots on Lundy: Chick Provisioning 2008-2019). And, in the last few years, I've followed the School Strike for Climate on social media.
Shelley and I moved back to mainland Devon from Lundy at the end of 2019. I was looking for work but I was also looking for green events in Devon. I am a member of the Lundy Field Society, the Devonshire Association, and the RSPB. I knew these organisations had walks and talks - but I found it difficult to find details about these events online. It was the beginning of the idea that sprung into this.
We moved to Chulmleigh in February 2020, we were looking for somewhere close to the Tarka Line. Somewhere close to my mum in Ilfracombe and also close to Exeter where I was looking for work. In twelve years of living on Lundy we hadn't needed a car, so we are trying to live without a car to help the planet. The bus and train links from Chulmleigh seemed sufficient for our needs. We knew people in Chulmleigh from our years on Lundy and I saw an article about Sustainable Chulmleigh in Molton Monthly.
Then coronavirus struck
We had time to think about how we should be living our life. Should I continue searching for a job that might mean four hours commuting to-and-from Exeter? Could I turn an idea into a business? We planted vegetable seeds in the garden and planted the seed of a business on the internet.
Why Hartstongue?
The hartstongue fern grows readily in the woods and hedges of Devon. Once you have be shown the plant you'll see it on any walk around the county. We found one struggling in the corner of our greenhouse, we transferred it into a pot and named it Fernleigh (see photo).
To me, it shows the need to talk from the heart. To speak out for the small voices of the county that raised me. To speak for Devon's nature and Devon's people.
Postscript: Devon and its Ferns
My mum has a copy of Charlotte Chanter's 1856 book Ferny Combes: A Ramble After Ferns in the Glens and Valleys of Devonshire. It was the first book to draw public attention to the great diversity of ferns to be found in Devonshire. Her book focused mainly on ferns discoverable within an easy distance of the coast. Like other botanizing authors of this period, she encouraged people to dig up rare ferns, contributing to the increasing rarity of certain Devon ferns. Her brother Charles coined the term pteridomania for this Victorian craze for ferns.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Chanter
Wikipedia - Asplenium scolopendrium, known as hart's-tongue or hart's-tongue fern (syn. Phyllitis scolopendrium) is a fern in the genus Asplenium, of the Northern Hemisphere
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asplenium_scolopendrium
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How many of photographs have we taken? How many do we ever see?
When you can't visit nature, revisit your past.
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The new series will run from 26th May to 12th June 2020.
At 8pm, on Tuesdays through to Fridays, Chris Packham, Gillian Burke and Iolo Williams present Springwatch on BBC Two. We will have wildlife cameras rolling 24 hours a day from the morning of Saturday 23rd May until the final show on Friday 12th June - catch all the best of the action through our website.
You can find us online at our website, and on social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Flickr.
#wildlifefrommywindow
#springwatch
#bbcspringwatch
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qgm3
Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BBCSpringwatch (759k)
- https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/wildlifefrommywindow
- https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/springwatch
- https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/bbcspringwatch
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/BBCSpringwatch (411k)
- https://twitter.com/hashtag/wildlifefrommywindow
- https://twitter.com/hashtag/springwatch
- https://twitter.com/hashtag/bbcspringwatch
Instagram: https://instagram.com/bbcspringwatch (217k)
- https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/wildlifefrommywindow
- https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/springwatch
- https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/bbcspringwatch
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/31216459@N07 (5.8k)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bbc+springwatch+2020
Act Local
Keep doing your bit for wildlife! We may all be largely confined to our homes, but there are still lots of ways that you can help wildlife - whether it's from your window, on your street, during your daily exercise or in your garden.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/RVN7BFtLDybfxqKbQrcZBB/keep-doing-your-bit-for-wildlife
Devon Wildlife Trust - River Otter Beaver Trial
A population of beavers, of unknown origin, has been present on the River Otter since around 2008. However, when video evidence emerged proving that the beavers had given birth to kits (young) in 2014, the UK Government initially planned to have them removed from the river.
DWT opposed their removal and after consulting with the local community, landowners and public bodies, presented an alternative plan: to turn the situation into a five-year trial to monitor the beavers’ effects on the landscape.
https://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/what-we-do/our-projects/river-otter-beaver-trial
Show your support: We know people care about these amazing animals – help us make sure the Government knows it too. Please back our call for a national strategy, so beavers can come back for good!
https://action.wildlifetrusts.org/page/60782/data/1
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Some days I forget how to breathe. It is all just a whirl of this next, that next, I have to do this before I can do that,... I find myself tight-lipped, tense, not breathing, too many thoughts to think about anything.
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Four votes on the new Agriculture Bill took place on 13th May 2020. This bill sets out the future of UK farming after we leave the European Union. Two Devon MPs featured in the debate. Tiverton and Honiton MP Neil Parish failed to introduce a new clause which would protect British farmers against imports with lower standards of animal welfare and environmental protection. Luke Pollard, Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport MP and Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs voiced the opposition's stance to protect British farmers from cheap imports.
The Bill was passed 360 to 211
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We've turned blue for the NHS
International Nurses Day (IND) is an international day observed around the world on 12 May (the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth) of each year, to mark the contributions that nurses make to society.
https://www.icn.ch/what-we-docampaigns/international-nurses-day
Twitter: #lightupblue , #FlorenceNightingale , #NursesDay2020 , #InternationalNursesDay
Facebook: #lightupblue , #FlorenceNightingale , #NursesDay2020 , #InternationalNursesDay
Read this event on our Calendar
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Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives
We now know who are the key workers. The people who really maker the world go round. In your town they include the people who work in the essential shops. They also include the volunteers and delivery drivers who help those people who are self-isolating, or who are staying home to protect the NHS and save lives. Many towns have produced lists of local retailers who are able to help those in need.
Support your local businesses
Buy from local shops, buy from local farms.
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Join a virtual day trip to Lundy on Sunday 10 May 2020, 10:00am - 04:00pm
Every year the local birding group Devon Birds organise a Spring day trip to Lundy to see the migrating birds and wild flowers. This year the Coronavirus pandemic has cancelled the trip. This Sunday, join Lundy enthusiast Grant Sherman on a virtual trip to Lundy and share your experiences of this magical island. Connect with fellow nature-lovers in this time of isolation.
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Our next online talk is on Tuesday 12th May at 7.30pm when Rosie Ellis will be joining us to tell us about life on Lundy during the lockdown. Rosie is the Assistant Warden and Education Officer and will start her talk with an update on her engagement work during the last season where she leads visiting school trips as part of the three year National Lottery Heritage Fund project in connection with the St Helen's Centre restoration. Rosie will then update us on life on Lundy during lockdown followed by an extended Q&A session. It's your opportunity to ask about life in isolation on our favourite island or to find out how Lundy's wildlife is adapting to the absence of visitors.
Please send your questions in advance so we can get through as many as possible, using this form: https://forms.gle/ghYtxndNpe3xab8U7
To register for the talk please use the link below: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5C7vVULCTt6LYE_dt3g8ZQ
Or you can watch live on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiiiLjqR7ILsRDwL7OcQpHA/live
View this event on our Event Calendar
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Join the Lundy Field Society for their next online talk about Lundy on Tuesday 5th May at 7.30pm.
Andrew Cleave will give us an overview of the beautiful wild flowers and ferns of Lundy, with some hints on where to look for some of the island's very special plants. There are spectacular displays of coastal flowers on the steep sidelands in May and June, and a blaze of colour from the magnificent maritime heath on top of the island later in the summer, but some of Lundy’s wild flowers are less obvious and are only revealed after a careful search.
This talk is now available on YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ky29Sl72azY
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