It's been a year! My not-so-new-anymore job.

Last week marked one year since I started working for Staffordshire Wildlife Trust on the ERDF SUNRISE Project. Its been a full and busy year! As I haven't really mentioned it all that much on this blog I thought it was worth an update.

My original role with the Wildlife Trust was as "ERDF SUNRISE Senior Biodiversity Projects Officer" ... I know, a mouthful. Pretty quickly I just referred to myself as a Delivery Officer because that described my role adequately. 

The SUNRISE Project which I had been recruited to work on is an urban green space restoration project. The project extends to 16 sites across the project area of Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme and funded by the ERDF (that's European Regional Development Fund in case you were wondering). On the subject of funding the total project budget was £3.6 million, of which the Wildlife Trust were responsible for coordinating about 50% of the funds on 13 of the sites. Enough to keep us busy then. 

Originally I worked with a project manager who had also been recruited as part of the project team but with some other responsibilities too. There had been some delays in the project getting started, and they weren't quite over when I joined the team but we got stuck straight in doing what we could while waiting for the admin side of things to get straightened out. While in some respects very different to my previous job up in the Peak District National Park - no moorlands, no helicopters, in the city vs out in the hills and so on - there were other elements that remained very similar. I was still working in a partnership, with land owners and other stakeholders, I was still writing work specifications and tenders, and I was still (and still am) supervising contractors so it wasn't a difficult transition on the whole. 

Time rolled on, the administrative delays eventually got straightened out and we started working officially - the first thing was to remove a weir from the River Trent, as you do. Then there was the wild flower seed which had been harvested earlier in the year to sow and the woodland management work to spec out and award to a contractor. The variety was welcome as if there was one thing about my last role (ignoring at this point the commute distance which was ultimately why I was looking for a new job) it would have been the opportunity to work in a range of habitats. Now I had rivers, wetland, grassland and woodlands to work with which was both a great learning experience and an opportunity to refresh my memory of some things I had learned previously but not necessarily put into action. 

The delays had caused some problems and required some changes, so the project plan needed to be revised to fit the new timescales and budgets had to be re-written to suit. This was a pretty involved task but helped me to get to know the in's and out's of the project detail far better than I would have done otherwise - while it was 'my project' it had ultimately been written by someone else. By the time I had re-written the project to suit the time available I felt like I understood it and knew it better.

Despite the delays and problems, things were moving forward but his role (and his commute) weren't suiting the Project Manager and he handed in his notice after about 6 months in post with his planned departure running out to the end of the year. This left a hole in the project team, and to cut a long story short I took on the role of project manager as well at the start of 2019 which was and still is I suppose an exciting if nerve-racking opportunity. The project team now consists of me and a couple of other team members who have 1 day a week allocated to the project for specific elements. 

6 months later and it hasn't all gone to pot yet. The project is still moving forward. It's not perfect, there are delays, changes, more admin work than I'd like but ultimately the project is going ahead. There has definitely been learning along the way, some of the learning curves steeper than other. Things like planning permission, large complicated construction work which is getting well into civil engineering territory, river restoration consents and permitting and quarterly project financial claims - all have required a fair bit of learning on the job!

What is there to look forward to? Well, the project has 18 months still to run, and a lot still to do, wildflower meadow creation, river restoration schemes (yes, multiple) and then we are back into a winter of woodland management and it will begin again next year, so on and so forth! There will be plenty to keep me busy delivering the project. But there is also the legacy, what comes next to sort out.

What I really hope, and have done from the beginning, is that this project will act as something of a catalyst to encourage more work in the project area on urban nature and habitats. While not a 'Stokie' I have now lived here for over 9 years, all my married life, I've studied 2 degrees here, both my children have been born here so it is home for now. I noticed years ago that there was a great potential for bringing nature into the city in Stoke and had various plans, with varying levels of reality to promote and encourage it. I even went to the point of making 'freedom of information' requests to get hold of Local Nature Reserve management plans to understand what was happening currently, but with other commitments had never got any of them past the drawing board stage.

When I saw the jobs for this project advertised it felt like a opportunity to put some of those mental plans into practice so I was a little bit disappointed when I found out that the project plan was already in place and I was just going to be delivering it. The project legacy will be where I may have a chance to put a little bit more of my plans and ideas into action, but that is the next job ... watch this space!   

Richard

If you would like to see more about the project, check out the project website at www.erdf-sunrise.co.uk.

My twitter account is going to focussed on my work from now on too so keep up to date with that at @talesofawildguy. 

Daddy-Daughter Wild Camp: Summer Solstice Microadventure

"The longest day of the year" - that always sounds dramatic doesn't it. Is it also a little sad? Almost as if the year is saying, "You've got less sunshine from here on, sunshine, make the most of it!" Last year on the longest day I was making the most of it, I think so anyway. I was walking down a river in Wales - read about that adventure here. This year I had originally considered walking Hadrian's Wall around the solstice weekend but had changed those plans to do something I could include the family in - the end result was a plan to go camping with my daughter. Excellent.  

A month or so back Alistair Humphreys (if you haven't heard of Mr Humphreys you should check him out, I find his approach to encouraging people to 'live adventurously' both motivational and realistic) issued a challenge to #goniceplacesdonicethings over the summer solstice weekend; specifically encouraging people who struggle to fit 'adventure' into their life to get outside and do something attainable. Oh, and there were prizes too, you know, added motivation. In any event, any uncertainty there may have been that we would get out that weekend vanished. The fervent and hopeful weather forecast watch began and the specific plans started to materialise.  

The final resolution on location came when my old colleagues up in the Peak District informed me they were having a BBQ that evening and invited me to come along. We would drive up to the Peak District, drop in to the BBQ to see some old friends and then find a secluded, quiet spot for 'little wild guy' to experience her first wild camp*. She wasn't quite ready for the full bivvy bag only experience (which is a shame as the weather would have been perfect for it and I love my bivvy bag!!) so we took my small hiking tent along instead.

Suitably stocked with snacks, sweets and a large thermos flask of hot chocolate we parked Rhino (the family adventure wagon) below Mam Tor and walked up to Hollins Cross before turning right and heading for Lose Hill at the eastern end of the Great Ridge while the sun set on our left over the Kinder Plateau. To be honest, this was a greater distance than I had remembered from previous visits and the littler legs of the party were starting to lag before we reached the spot we were aiming for, but reach it we did. 

We tucked in to a modest supper of crackers, cheese, salami, M&M's and hot chocolate before putting the tent up in what was by then - about 10:15pm - fast falling light. Little wild guy was out like a light seconds after snuggling into her sleeping bag giving me a chance to do a bit of reading - "The Kindess of Strangers": watch this space for a Best Books entry soon - as the light blue darkened to navy and filled with stars, and the warm glow receeded from a significant chunk to a sliver along the north-western horizon. 

After a good nights sleep we did it all again, in reverse. The tent, the meal, the walk, the car - getting home mid morning on another beautiful sunny day filled with plans and chores. Little guy had slept well. "More comfortably than in her own bed" were the words she used. Our wildcamp had been a success then! It certainly was for me anyway - I had slept well too, enjoying the occasional awakening providing opportunities to glance up and out of the tent door (we may not have been in bivvy bags but I left the tent door open as a compromise) and see the stars, then the first hint of dawn, then a pre-sunrise glare girding it's loins behind scattered cloud before eventually full morning and daylight was upon us once again. This may have been the first daddy-daughter wildcamp but it won't be the last. And the littlest wild guy, my son, was extremely jealous of big sisters adventures and is desperate for one of his own ... Oh, alright then, if you insist son...

Richard  

  

The Best Books: Canoeing the Congo

I've finally finished another book - it takes me ages these days. I used to go through books by the shelf load but real life is busy and by the time children and full time job and other commitments come along ... reading time is sparse and frequently cut short by sleep! 

Anyway...

I came across this book by accident, I'm pretty sure it was a suggestion from Amazon when purchasing a couple of 'adventure books' from my long, very long wish list. But I committed that cardinal sin - judging a book by it's cover - and decided that this was a book I needed to read. 

It ticked several boxes for me straight off the bat: 1) I bought a canoe, sorry - kayak, earlier this year as a new tool in the adventure tool kit and 2) I've always loved the idea of source to sea river journeys whether by land following the river or on the river, and 3) Africa calls my name - I need to visit one day. 

I completed my first source to sea trip last year, almost exactly a year ago in fact, and it was a journey I had been thinking about since I was a little boy! It only took me 20 odd years to realise the plan. It was much smaller than the Congo and didn't go exactly to plan anyway, but was a great journey and learning experience none the less. My source to sea journey was following the Ystwyth river in mid Wales - you can read about it here. It will not be the last source-to-sea journey I do, that is for sure. 

But the book! Well it does what it says on the tin... or cover. It recounts the journey of Phil Harwood down the full length of the river Congo by canoe - the bits he could traverse without being obliterated by raging, white water anyway. Geography has always fascinated me and the Congo is a river I had certainly heard of, but could not have told you anything about the river, with the possible exception of fact that it flowed through the country of the same name.  I now know a lot more, but this book is a lot more than a geography lesson.

This certainly isn't one of those natural history books which waxes lyrical and poetic about the 'personal journey' or anything like that. It is more a diary of what by any standards is a blooming exciting and even terrifying journey. Crocodiles, Hippos, occasionally angry and threatening locals, biblical rapids, literally uncharted territory AND setting off to do it on his lonesome. Phil may not be the most gifted or flowery author but he is clearly a pretty brave chap. 

Of course the trip is not all danger and isolation. It also illustrates the diversity of the world we inhabit and that there are good people everywhere. And it is a cultural and sociological insight into just how easy I and others like me have had it; a relatively wealthy up-bringing in a peaceful, European nation. I like to think that I am a little more aware than some of the scale of the privileges I have been blessed with. I lived in South America and the Caribbean for a few years and while there was witness to unquestionable and genuine poverty, but one thing which wasn't present even in those poor nations was the aftermath of decades of war and civil unrest which are still making their presence felt even years later. 

Has it lessened my desire to visit Africa? No. Has it opened my eyes to what the realities of travelling in that continent may hold? Yes, I would say it has. Will I be disappearing off to canoe the Congo myself anytime soon? No, for starters my wife wouldn't let me! 

Which brings me on to the final point which this book highlighted for me - that long, solo canoe journeys and water travel in general are not to be taken lightly. I better get training then!

To anyone for whom adventure, travel, far flung places, the splendour of the natural world or the diversity of human culture and experience holds any interest, this book is worth the time to read, even if like me your reading time is short and precious!

Richard

Wild Thoughts: Moorland Fire

(Taken from a series of Instagram posts from a few weeks back)

I read a concerning article online last week from the New Scientist magazine about the number of wildfires in the UK so far this year - there have been more already this year, than any other whole year on record.

Last year in my previous job I was working closely to plan and coordinate moorland restoration work on a large estate just outside Stalybridge near Manchester. Just a few weeks after I started my new job and handed that task over, the estate was on fire and all over the news. It burned for ages, threw a cloud of smoke over Manchester, and terrified local residents. But it also turned what was an already degraded moorland - damaged by and still suffering from historic pollution and drainage issues - into an ecological disaster zone.

I haven't been able to go back and visit that site since the fire, but I'm fairly sure it would be heart breaking. To see a piece of land I knew so well so damaged, having invested so much time and effort on, planning it's future restoration and enhancement - arguably destroyed, at least in the short term. To see it now, most likely looking a lot like the picture above would be a hard pill to swallow.

Just a few weeks after the Stalybridge fire, and a few months into my new job at Staffordshire Wildlife Trust a large fire started on the Roaches, a reserve in the Peak District National Park. While not directly involved in the emergency response, the atmosphere of urgency in the office was palpable, and I could hear and see the sadness in the conversations and faces of my new colleagues. They were, like me with Stalybridge only up close and personally rather than from a distance, seeing years of effort and investment wiped out in a matter of days, and a haven turned into a wasteland.

I saw this fire in person, only from a distance, but close enough for the scale and severity of the damage to sink in, or so I thought at the time. I've since seen it several more times from a distance, but it took me until last week to actually visit it up close.

I have seen the recent aftermath of wild fires before. As a boy I walked across the fresh scars of a fire in the Brecon Beacons, fresh enough that the odd wisp of smoke still curled from hot spots. That was probably 15 + years ago but I still remember being speechless at the damage caused.

Fast forward back to now and the Roaches - this time the child in attendance was my own daughter. She too saw the fire burning from a distance and has commented several times since that she is sad about the fire because she loves the Roaches. It has been one of her favourite places for a family adventure for several years. I could tell that even though the smoke has long since stopped at the Roaches, that the damage left behind still made an impression on her.

The decision to go for a walk was last minute. It had been the plan for her to go out for a walk earlier in the day while I was at work, but with other members of the family unwell that hadn't been an option. Instead when I got home from work we made an impulse decision, threw together some waterproofs, jumped in the car and headed initially for Luds Church - the forecast was for heavy rain so we wanted to be somewhere a bit more sheltered.

As we passed the Roaches she decided that, actually, she wanted to stop here. The forecast had massively over-exaggerated the levels of precipitation so we did so. And I'm glad we did. You could tell her 6 year old mind was contemplating what she was seeing; that the damage was genuinely upsetting to her. I think it's a lesson she will carry with her. When she asked how it started and I explained she was cross with the campers. I'm pretty sure she will be more responsible on her future adventures as a result.

Anyway, to bring it full circle, if that New Scientist article is accurate, and we have another hot dry summer this year we could be in for a pretty dire year in our moors and hills. Be careful and sensible out there people - the poor decision making may be the work of just a moment, but fixing the damage certainly isn't!

Richard

Highlights of wildness from the past few months

Despite the silence on the blog (for two months! whoops!), we have been getting outside as a family. As the actual 'getting out' is more important that writing about it, I don't feel too bad about the lack of writing. It's better than writing about it and not doing it! But the time has come for a bit of catch up on our family time as well as other things!

Our trips haven't all been to our local woods, we've thrown a few extras in here and there to keep some variety, including a few trips to the Peak District, our local National Park, and TWO trips to Scotland since the last blog post. But we have included semi-regular visits to the woods and the seasonal changes have certainly been apparent already. While we have passed up opportunities a couple of times because of the weather, we have been out on days where it would have been easier to stay in too! But it hasn't all been grey skies, we've also enjoyed some absolutely beautiful weather!

Since I last wrote we have managed the following outings among others, which as much as anything is a list of pretty easily accessible outings for people in the Stoke-on-Trent area:

- a wet, cold and blustery (and therefore short) trip out to Mow Cop Castle on the Staffordshire / Cheshire border. It's owned and managed by the National Trust but unlike many of their larger properties free to visit. There isn't much to the 'castle' these days, and you can't actually go into it but it is a handsome feature and has cracking views over Staffordshire and Cheshire. Of course, the view was not all that special when we were there as it was dominated by low, grey cloud and accompanied by heavy rain. But we were outside, working towards our fresh air quota for the week AND our daughter took an old camera for a 'photography lesson'. Much like the view, the lesson didn't really materialise while we were there, but it's a start!

- A post school / work trip out to Park Hall Country Park on the edge of Stoke-on-Trent for a walk. Being a very short (less than 5 minutes) drive from home this is a favourite spot of ours for some family outdoor time. It has expansive views out over the city and is the best place I have yet found to watch the sun set over Stoke-on-Trent.
- Several trips to our local woods including the finding of a new favourite climbing tree where the children have had some tree climbing lessons. On our most recent excursion the bluebells were just starting to come out in earnest, but we need to visit again as they are probably fully out now! The little stream which flows through the 'woods' - although really through the adjoining rough grassland and scrub - has also become a favourite of the children to jump across and splash in.
-  A sunny walk at Downs Banks National Trust reserve near Stone, between Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford. A mosaic of woodland and grassland on either side of a scenic brook. Stepping stones and shallow water make it a prime place to enjoy a bit of water play for small feet, but the woods and banks are full of interest for older eyes too. The meandering brook through the valley is a fitting centre piece to such a pleasant reserve which we have visited often before, and will continue to.
- Bank holiday weekend saw a chance to go a little further afield to the Peak District and the Monsal Trail near Buxton. We took a scooter and a bike for the little legs and enjoyed a morning scooting at various speeds along the old train line through old tunnels and over high bridges between the high walls of the stunning gorge of the river Wye. Climbers were enjoying more vertical adventures on the gorge walls with a beautiful blue sky as a ceiling, but the little Guys are not quite ready for adventures of that scale just yet.
- Finally the Roaches were once again a feature of a brief and short notice evening outing during the Easter holidays. The Roaches need no introduction here, but this was the first time I had visited properly since the huge moorland fire last year. It was sobering, but that is the topic for a different post.

This brief account skims over a few outings, misses entirely the two Scottish adventures which are also worthy of their own posts and also doesn't touch on my 'wild moments' from working as a conservationist which gets me out more than many - another subject for separate posts. There is stuff to keep me writing for a little while yet, so I will leave this brief update here with a map showing our trips out and about. Until next time...

Richard

Wild Moments: Off we go again...

We made it out again! We got back out to the woods.

The weather was OK, in the sense that it wasn't raining, but it was dull and grey compared to the gorgeous, blue sky evening we had last week. But the crucial thing was we managed to stick to our goal to get out for a family walk again. 

What we call "The Woods" is about 75 acres of mixed woodland and grassland tucked away behind housing estates and industrial areas in the eastern portion of Stoke-on-Trent city limits. The woodlands are the key feature, and they are beautiful - a mix of older woodland, and younger trees grown up over the site of what I understand was an old brick works. The older areas, full of twisty old oaks and birch, is our favourite. In the spring it is an amazing display of bluebells!

Anyway, this evening the goal was a stream. There are two which flow through 'the woods' and we headed for the furthest with the children running ahead, beckoning us to follow and stopping to check which path we needed to take at each fork. Blossoms were out and added small spots of brightness to the otherwise dull woods on a grey evening. However, when we reached the furthest one the children decided they preferred the other one, you can't win them all.

We learned a lesson the hard way today, when at the furthest point from home one of the children decided they needed the toilet... typical. So we turned for home via the shortest possible route a little sooner than we may have done otherwise, but we still had a decent walk. When I say 'learned a lesson', that isn't the first time that has happened, so we haven't learned yet! 

Our youngest was hilarious with the mud today, despite wearing wellies he was tip-toeing round all the muddy areas - funny boy! He hasn't always been like that, so hopefully it is just a phase and he'll get out of it soon. 

That will do for yesterday's family micro-adventure, this weekend holds a bigger adventure with another part of the family, but that's another story!

Richard

Wild Moments: A family walk at sunset.

I think it is probably on every parents wish list to spend more quality time with their children, time where other distractions can be set aside and just being a parent and a child can be the main focus, even if only for a short time.

We are exactly the same, and so earlier this week we decided one morning (because the weather was beautiful again and it can't last forever in February) that as soon as I was home from work and our oldest daughter was home from her school club, that we would head out for a walk to our local woods. And we did exactly that.

Our woods are a under-appreciated gem, but I'll write more about them another time. The key thing for this short post is that they are easy walking distance from our home and large enough than when in amongst the trees you could pretty easily imagine that you weren't really surrounding by houses and industrial estates.


The sun was already getting low when we left and provided and beautiful, warm back-light to our adventure. Not that warmth was missing, despite being February it was well into double figures Celsius and none of us needed coats or even jumpers.


Wellies were worn of course, mud was jumped in and squelched, the little stream was splashed in, roots were battled with, trees climbed, bird song listened too, tree buds admired, early flowers appreciated, dead leaves crunched, some paths followed and others ignored in favour of the 'adventure route', steps climbed, sticks (swords) were found and battles fought, ecological investigations were initiated ("What dug this hole"? / "What left this footprint"? / "What flower will this be"?) and fresh air and exercise were enjoyed by all. Phew, it was full on small-child adventuring!

Despite the fun the calls for home came and eventually, although by a pretty circuitous route, we pointed our noses for home and left the woods. But there was one more little treat before we concluded our family micro-adventure that day. Between the woods and home there is a point where we can look out to the west across the city. And being a gorgeous day without a cloud in the sky the golden orange orb of the sun was perched teetering on the hazy horizon. We waited and watched as it slipped out of view, eventually leaving just a nail clipping of brightness before vanishing entirely.

Then it was home, dinner, pyjamas, off to a church meeting for me, bed time for the little people - back to normal life. But it was a great escape while it lasted.

We are determined this year to make more of these wild moments for us as a family, particularly in those woods. The signs of spring are already well on the way and what better way for the children to appreciate the seasons specifically and the natural world generally than to witness it change on their doorstep week by week.

More wild moments of this ilk to follow in weeks and months to come.


Richard