Wild Looe focuses on the glorious diversity of a small area on the edge of the ocean: the coastal town of Looe, west to Polperro, east to Seaton, and inland to Shallowpool and Sandplace, including the nature reserve of Looe Island. It looks at the rocky shore; the tidal estuary of the West and East Looe rivers; the ancient, semi-natural woodlands of the river valleys – especially Kilminorth Woods, Trenant Woods and Seaton Valley – and the fields and hedgerows of the coast path. It highlights the natural history of these environments, their protection and conservation.
- Introduction: A Walk on the Wild Side
- Abbreviations used in this book
- map of the Looe and Polperro area
- Sea and Rocky Shore
- The Cliffs and the Coast Path
- Estuary and River
- The Valley Woodlands
- The Rural Hinterland: Farm, Field and Hedgerow
- Postscript: A Wheatear on the Roof
- Acknowledgements
Derek Spooner has and MA and a PhD in Geography from the University of Cambridge, and was Head of the Department of Geography at the University of Hull. He is actively involved in nature conservation and wildlife recording, and was a founder member of the Friends of Kilminorth Woods in Looe. He is a volunteer with the Looe Marine Conservation Group, Cornwall Wildlife Trust and the Looe Island seal surveys, and contributes regularly to bird surveys in south-east Cornwall for the British Trust for Ornithology. He is a member of the Cornwall Mammal Group, the Cornwall Bird Watching and Preservation Society, and Cornwall Butterfly Conservation.