PERHAPS it was inevitable that Philip Strange would become a nature writer.
A scientist by training, he worked in universities for more than 30 years researching mechanisms of drug action.
Writing about his academic research was an important part of his university life, leading to numerous scientific papers and even a respected textbook on brain biochemistry and brain disorders.
FRESH START: Philip Strange moved to the West Country
But taking early retirement offered the opportunity of a fresh start and a new adventure. And moving with his wife Hazel and family to the West Country proved something of an eye-opener, awakening a new interest for him in the natural world.
“We live in Totnes and have enjoyed exploring the coast of south Devon and west Dorset, also nearby Dartmoor,” says Philip. “It has been a revelation for me as to how much there is to see, not only beautiful views but also wildlife including birds, insects and flowers.”
SEA VIEW: looking towards Prawle Point PICTURE: Philip Strange
Since he retired, writing about nature has become his principal occupation, inspired by his daily ramblings down local country lanes.
“I never fail to be moved by the beauty of the environment and the wildlife found there,” says Philip.
That new fascination has led to dozens of articles being published in print and online, along with more than 270 blog posts chronicling his encounters with local insects or wildflowers.
In a new departure, following a suggestion from his artist wife Hazel, the pair have organised three exhibitions together in a Totnes gallery over the past few years with her landscape paintings of the local coast alongside his photographs of wildlife in similar locations.
INSECT ENCOUNTER: a long-horned beetle PICTURE: Philip Strange
“I have found that there is a multitude of wildlife very close to our house, in nearby country lanes, in a local community garden and even on the edges of town centre car parks,” says Philip.
On a quiet local lane, he can hear the sound of the church bells pealing in the centre of Totnes and look over towards the hills of Dartmoor.
Ten years on, he’s still passionate about the natural world and about communicating that passion through his writing and photographs.
SPLASH OF COLOUR: an orange-tip butterfly PICTURE: Philip Strange
His blog has received more than 150,000 views, and his articles have appeared everywhere from Devon Life and Cornwall Today to The Dark Mountain Project and a range of science, nature and environmental journals.
His scientific background gives his articles heft and his painstaking attention to detail adds to their credibility, but ultimately it’s their accessibility and enthusiasm which has ensured their popularity.
RARE FIND: a long-horned bee PICTURE: Philip Strange
He can lament the loss of vital heathland habitat in an unsentimental way, explaining how such landscapes were created and shaped by human activity across the centuries or exploring how flower-rich hay meadows that were once such an important feature of the British countryside have declined so dramatically since the 1930s.
But the main emphasis of his regular blog posts lies in chronicling the bees, moths, butterflies and wildflowers he encounters on his rambles, whether that involves exploring controversies surrounding the humble ragwort or delighting in the discovery of hundreds of ivy bees.
SNEAKY MIMIC: a bee orchid PICTURE: Philip Strange
Perhaps one series of posts best sums up the enduring appeal of Philip’s blog: those tracking the changing seasons along Fishchowter’s Lane, an ancient footpath not far from his house.
With a rich history dating from at least the 12th century when it was part of the main road from Totnes to Dartmouth, the lane provides a perfect microcosm of Philip’s fascination with the local landscape.
JURASSIC COAST: the view from Lyme Regis PICTURE: Philip Strange
It reflects his ability to home in on the small details that many of us miss: a bumblee feasting on yellow archangel, perhaps, or the unexpected beauty of hedge woundwort or bramble flowers.
Accompanied by hundreds of pictures, the posts act as a veritable encyclopaedia of those local flowers and insects, a welcome reminder of how much beauty can be found on our doorsteps, if only we look closely enough.
Philip’s blog contains links to all his other published articles.
KERRIE Ann Gardner’s love of nature shines through in her words as well as her pictures.
A writer and poet as well as an artist and photographer, her social media accounts reveal a young woman “enchanted by the natural world, angered by our treatment of it” and “always happier outside”.
COUNTRY LANES: running is “like a prayer” PICTURE: Kerrie Ann Gardner
A keen runner, she relishes early mornings when the air is cold and the sun casts an amber glow over the landscape, or at nightfall when the indigo darkness descends on the lanes round her home in East Devon as the rooks and jackdaws return to their roosts.
“Running, I think, is my favourite way to pay attention,” she writes. “For a time, I tried to run faster, to challenge myself, break records. But I soon realised that this is not the reason I run. Running, for me, is not a competition. It is, in fact, more like a prayer.”
WINTER OUTLINES: January Rooks PICTURE: Kerrie Ann Gardner
Kerrie studied fine art at A-level, and loved taking photographs as a teenager, but it wasn’t until more recently, when she acquired a Nikon D7000, that she started getting the sort of photographs she had always dreamed of.
Whether that means snatching the briefest glimpse of an owl or woodcock, marvelling at the rare glory of the aurora borealis or simply catching the morning mist lingering over the local landscape, those early starts and dusk outings provide the perfect opportunities to see the local landscape at its best.
PURPLE GLOW: a rare glimpse of the aurora PICTURE: Kerrie Ann Gardner
“Our home is nestled within the beautiful borderlands of Dorset, Devon and Somerset, which affords me ample opportunity to get outside and capture some breathtaking scenes,” says Kerrie.
“I am an avid lover of the British countryside and the wildlife within it and want little more than to be outside experiencing it as much as possible.”
SOFT SPOT: a pair of tawny owlets PICTURE: Kerrie Ann Gardner
It might be a pair of tawny owlets capturing her attention, delightfully fluffy hungry siblings out in open sunlight begging for food.
“I have a soft spot for owls,” says Kerrie. “They have always beguiled me. I think it’s their eyes – those unfathomable, obsidian-like eyes, Guinness-dark and knowing in ways I can only imagine.”
EVENING MEAL: a barn owl hunting PICTURE: Kerrie Ann Gardner
But it might as well be an unusual cloud formation, or a long-deserted road through the woods which conjures up thoughts of the clatter of ancient cart wheels and all the feet which once walked there: drovers, animals, vagabonds and priests.
As well as her passion for photography, her interests range from horticulture to sea swimming, astronomy to dinosaurs.
COLD COMFORT: Swirling Rooks PICTURE: Kerrie Ann Gardner
She enjoys growing her own food and is fascinated by birds and folklore, interesting weather, fungi and the night sky, as her blog, poems and Twitterand Instagram profiles reflect.
From silhouettes of winter trees to hard frosts and full moons, her interests are reflected in her delicate artwork too.
SILHOUETTE: Winter Woodcock PICTURE: Kerrie Ann Gardner
But although she always had a love of art, formal study stifled her creativity, making it hard for her to translate the scenes in her imagination onto the page.
Social media can be an inspiring and engaging place, but it can also sap your confidence, she believes. “On bad days, it can seem like every other artist is producing amazing work while your own stuff never meets the mark.”
DREAMSCAPE: Going Home PICTURE: Kerrie Ann Gardner
Recurring images include the bare bone silhouettes of winter trees. “A lot of my inspiration comes when I’m running the lanes near our house,” she says. “I find movement invaluable for that. It stills my mind and allows me to see with more clarity so ideas can amalgamate.”
PAINTED STONE: Fox Fires PICTURE: Kerrie Ann Gardner
“As for social media, it’s been brilliant for getting my artwork seen which I am very grateful for, and I’ve had opportunities arise as a result, like being asked to contribute a piece to the BTO’s Red Sixty Seven book, which wouldn’t have come about otherwise.
“But it can be a difficult tool to negotiate during periods when you haven’t created much, as it can feel like everyone else is making while you’re falling behind.”
Her work for sale includes original drawings, prints and painted stones, the latter mainly focusing on birds.
BIRDS IN THE HAND: Welsh Ravens PICTURE: Kerrie Ann Gardner
And as well as revamping her online shop for 2024, she promises we’ll see more of her photographs too.
“I don’t really buy into the whole New Year’s resolution thing, especially as to my mind the winter months are a time for hibernation and deliberation,” she says. “And yet, I do think it’s good to voice intention in these darker months. It’s like planting a bulb the right way up, making it easier for the ensuing plant to break the soil and reach the light.
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION: Kerrie Ann Gardner
“So I’m sending down roots to remind myself that next year there needs to be more photography in my life and that it needs to be shared, because it’s not much use stuck on a hard drive.”
IT’S damp, drab drizzly day in Norfolk, just enough to deter all but the hardiest souls from the beach.
But in many ways the windswept stretch of the North Norfolk coastline near Blakeney is the perfect escape, whatever the weather.
WINDSWEPT: Cley Beach in Norfolk
This is Cley Beach on the coastal path, a lonely place on a wet day in April but part of an important nature reserve at Cley Marshes, created in 1926 when Norfolk birdwatcher Dr Sydney Long bought the land and established the Norfolk Wildlife Trust.
Birdwatching is important to the tourist industry in this part of the world, with the 430-acre site nowadays of international importance for its breeding and wintering birds.
COASTAL PATH: boats drawn up on the shingle at Cley
We are around three hours away from our Buckinghamshire home, but this is a world away from the landlocked Chilterns – and as we discussed earlier in the year, that yearning for a breath of sea air is a regular recurrence.
Luckily this year we have been fortunate enough to indulge with a series of seaside expeditions, and this is one of our first such adventures.
With some 1,500 beaches scattered around Britain’s coastline, we have a wonderful cross-section of coastal scenery to choose from, from smugglers’ coves and shingle spits to sweeping sands and inviting rockpools.
FAMILY FUN: beach huts at Frinton-on-Sea
Further round the coast and Essex boasts an extraordinary range of seaside towns and coastal villages, some of them among the most deprived neighbourhoods in England.
But for old-fashioned family fun, the beach huts at resorts like Frinton and Holland-on-Sea take a lot of beating, while the bigger and busier resorts like Clacton and Southend have been perennially popular with generations of Londoners.
WATERFRONT SNACK: the Beach Haven cafe at Holland-on-Sea
There’s a similarly innocent feel to Avon Beach at Christchurch, one of the closest to the Chilterns and a family-friendly place of beach huts and rockpooling, with the handily located Noisy Lobster providing a range of restaurant and takeaway treats for those who find that the sea air soon stimulates the tastebuds.
FRIENDLY FEEL: the seafront at Avon Beach
Just along the coast at Mudeford Quay, the entrance to Christchurch Harbour is a popular stopping-off point, with great views out to sea and towards Christchurch town.
MUSICAL MOMENT: watching the boats at Mudeford Quay
The quay is the perfect place to watch boats coming in and out of the harbour, as well as proving a popular spot for families crabbing from the quayside.
A busy year-round sailing and windsurfing destination, there’s also a ferry dropping cyclists and walkers over to Mudeford Sandbank, which boasts some of the most expensive beach huts in the country.
EXCLUSIVE ESCAPE: Mudeford Sandbank
From here, the 95-mile long Jurassic Coast beckons, from Swanage to Lulworth and Weymouth, then on round to Lyme Regis, Charmouth, Seaton and Beer.
The world-famous geology draws the crowds here, fascinating by the rocks, fossils and intriguing landforms that make it Britain’s only natural World Heritage Site.
FAMOUS LANDMARK: visitors gather at Durdle Door
Durdle Door on the Lulworth Estate is one of Dorset’s most photographed beauty spots, a magnificent natural limestone arch formed by waves eroding the rock, but also one of the busiest attractions for miles around.
Hardier souls can escape the crowds by tackling a stretch of the South West Coast Path, England’s longest waymarked long-distance footpath and national trail, stretching for over 630 miles from Poole Harbour round to Minehead in Somerset and immortalised in print by Raynor Winn.
CLIFFTOP ESCAPE: the South West Coast Path
Even here, on a section of coast where the car parks are full of day trippers, it doesn’t take long to shake off the other tourists and find yourself alone with your thoughts.
Round the other side of Weymouth, Chesil Beach is an 18-mile long shingle barrier beach stretching from West Bay to Portland, and another of Dorset’s most iconic landmarks.
NATURAL BARRIER: Chesil Beach in Dorset
Unlike the golden sands of Bournemouth or Weymouth, this is a wild, rugged, elemental landscape where the surf crashes relentlessly onto the ridge.
It stretches off for miles towards the horizon, the pebbles graded in size from potato to pea depending on their precise location, allegedly once allowing smugglers landing on the beach at night to judge their position along the coast simply by picking up a handful of shingle.
FOSSIL HUNT: Charmouth beach is world renowned
Next stop Charmouth, a seaside village with a beach renowned across the world for its fossils.
Families fascinated in the life of dinosaurs can immerse themselves in the past at the Charmouth Heritage Centre and even sign up a guided fossil hunting session on the beach, where pyrite ammonite and belemnite fossils can often be found loose among the pebbles.
PERIOD DRAMA: Kate Winslet in Ammonite
This is also the place to find out more about the extraordinary life of English fossil collector, dealer and paleontologist Mary Anning.
Born in 1799, the discoveries she made in the Jurassic marine fossil beds along this coast changed scientific thinking about prehistoric life – though Francis Lee’s 2020 romantic drama Ammonite seems more concerned in speculating about her sex life than in her scientific reputation.
ROOM WITH A VIEW: the Rock Point Inn at Lyme Regis
In nearby Lyme Regis, her home and first fossil shop is now a museum, while a local fossil shop was used as her home in the film.
Head west from here and we’re into Devon and a whole new world of seaside delights, from the picturesque foreshore at Branscombe to the cheerful seafront snackbars of Beer.
TIME FOR TEA: the beach at Beer
Devon attractions range from the heritage trams of Seaton to the sweeping beaches of Exmouth or picturesque quayside at Exeter: but then these delights were more fully explored in our rundown on some of the most intriguing secret hideaways of South Devon.
But if there’s one place where the location can justifiably be called spectacular, it’s the extraordinary Burgh Island: an iconic art deco landmark on its own tidal island, surrounded by golden beaches and restored to its 1930s glamour.
One of our favourite visits of the year, the historic adjoining Pilchard Inn is similarly only accessible via a sandy causeway from Bigbury-on-Sea that disappears under the waves at high tide and provides a gloriously laid-back outlook over the surrounding beaches.
GLORIOUS OUTLOOK: the Pilchard Inn on Burgh Island
From here, our final summertime seaside foray of the year takes us to the opposite end of the country and the equally spectacular coastline between Aberdeen and Inverness.
The Moray Coast is a childhood stamping ground where the timeless solidity of the prettily painted fishing villages have a special appeal.
MORAY FIRTH: fishermen’s cottages in Findochty
The sun may not always be shining on the north-east coast, but when it does, there’s no prettier place in the country, even if trains no longer run along the clifftop towards the glorious beaches at Cullen, where the viaduct still provides an imposing backdrop to photographs from the harbour.
IMPOSING BACKDROP: the old railway viaduct at Cullen
Back home in Buckinghamshire, we haven’t exhausted our love of the seaside, but we’ve seen some glorious scenery and met some wonderful people along the way.
The Chilterns is not quite the furthest place in the country from the coast: that honour goes to a small farm in Derbyshire, according to Ordnance Survey, although Lichfield in Staffordshire also boasts a plaque laying claim to being England’s furthest point from the sea – a distance of 84 miles.
CALL OF THE COAST: a seagull in Dorset
But with the waves of the English Channel less than a couple of hours’ away it hopefully won’t be too long before we get the chance to hear the sound of the surf and cry of the gulls again.
