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British Wildlife is the leading natural history magazine in the UK, providing essential reading for both enthusiast and professional naturalists and wildlife conservationists. Published eight times a year, British Wildlife bridges the gap between popular writing and scientific literature through a combination of long-form articles, regular columns and reports, book reviews and letters.

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Good Reads  Conservation & Biodiversity  Habitat Management & Care

Wild Fell Fighting for Nature on a Lake District Hill Farm

Nature Writing
By: Lee Schofield(Author), Bob Venables(Illustrator), Liane Payne(Illustrator)
341 pages, b/w illustrations, 1 b/w map
NHBS
An exhilarating tour of Lee’s patch in the English Lake District.
Wild Fell
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  • Wild Fell ISBN: 9781804990964 Paperback Mar 2023 In stock
    £10.99
    #257612
  • Wild Fell ISBN: 9780857527752 Hardback Feb 2022 In stock
    £19.99
    #255260
Selected version: £10.99
About this book Customer reviews Biography Related titles

About this book

In 2015, England's last and loneliest golden eagle died in an unmarked spot among the remote eastern fells of the Lake District. It was a tragic day for the nation's wildlife, but the fight to restore the landscape had already begun.

Lee Schofield, ecologist and site manager for RSPB Haweswater is leading efforts to breathe life back into 3,000 hectares of sprawling upland habitat. In his search for inspiration, Lee has sought out England's rarest mountain flower and travelled from the wild fells of Norway to the pristine meadows of the Alps.

But in the contested landscape of the Lake District, change is not always welcomed, and success relies on finding a balance between rewilding and respecting cherished farming traditions. This is not only a story of nature in recovery, it is also the story of Lee's personal connection to place and the highs and lows of working for nature amid fierce opposition.

Wild Fell is a call to recognise that the solutions for a richer world lie at our feet; by focusing on flowers, we can rebuild landscapes fit to welcome the majestic golden eagle again.

Customer Reviews (1)

  • Well written, engaging, inspiring and very informative
    By Dave 23 Nov 2022 Written for Paperback
    My other half took a copy of Lee's book on holiday with us, appropriately enough to the nature-deprived hills of Northumberland. I picked it up and started reading and couldn't put it down (much to her dismay). It explains very clearly how we've ended up where we are with the biodiversity crisis related to the intensification of farming through the lens of sheep farming in the Lake District. Wild Fell lays out the causes and issues (without pointing the finger – except at the real culprits of post-war policies to drive intensification and EU subsidies), and does so in a fashion that's both unpatronising and highly engaging.

    I've never been that keen to visit the Lakes due to its lack of biodiversity, but Haweswater is now definitely on my list of places to visit – I'm very keen to see the work being done there and see how nature is making a comeback.

    Wild Fell is not just an inspiring book about the rewilding of a hill farm but also one of the most clearly written books on general ecological and conservation principles – many light bulb moments occurred whilst reading it. As such, I bought it for a colleague who wants to learn more about ecology in general (and she loved it too).

    Overall it's an excellent read and one that is also full of hope for the future.
    1 of 1 found this helpful - Was this helpful to you? Yes No

Biography

Lee Schofield is site manager at RSPB Haweswater in the Lake District, a landscape-scale nature reserve incorporating working farms. Wild Fell is his first book.

Nature Writing
By: Lee Schofield(Author), Bob Venables(Illustrator), Liane Payne(Illustrator)
341 pages, b/w illustrations, 1 b/w map
NHBS
An exhilarating tour of Lee’s patch in the English Lake District.
Media reviews

"[...] Wild Fell is an exhilarating tour of Lee’s patch, with side excursions to Scotland and Norway and the Italian Alps for insights into the abundance which nature is bursting to give us. His writing, like the extinct, extant and envisioned landscapes he describes, is studded with moments of immense beauty – you can almost smell rock and moss and nectar, hear butterflies and grasshoppers flit and whirr, feel the shadow of a great wing passing between you and the sun. Lee is convinced that eagles will return to Haweswater when the landscape is ready, and no one deserves to see it more."
– Amy-Jane Beer, British Wildlife 33(4), February 2022

"A thrilling, inspiring journey into the restoration of our uplands. I found myself turning the pages with an inward leap of joy. Reasoned, intelligent, compassionate, well-informed, this is a story of hope and renewal for both nature and farming."
– Isabella Tree

"Authentic, honest and clear-sighted – Lee Schofield offers a practical and hopeful example of how to return nature to all our landscapes using imagination, compromise, humility and sheer hard work. This is an important book and fully deserves its place alongside James Rebanks and other contemporary Lakeland classics."
– Patrick Barkham

"A passionate, haunting yet optimistic account of the battle to heal a damaged landscape and restore nature to a corner of the Lake District."
– Dave Goulson

"In a country defined as the seventh most nature depleted on Earth, in a region plagued by flooding and climate-chaos, here comes Lee Schofield's brilliant book full of positive action and hope for the future. Wild Fell is a record of environmental achievement, of the RSPB's mission to restore the places and wild nature of Haweswater. But it's also a political tract, and throws down a gauntlet to us all to make the Lake District a national park that is genuinely worthy of the title."
– Mark Cocker

"As the competing needs of agriculture and conservation jostle for ascendency, land management in Britain has reached a tipping point. Candid, raw and searingly honest, Lee Schofield offers a naturalist's perspective of the challenges unfolding in the ancient yet ever-changing landscape of Haweswater and shares with us his gloriously vibrant vision for the future."
– Katharine Norbury

"Saving nature is a tough job. In Wild Fell we get to understand why people do it: real soul-deep passion."
– Simon Barnes

"Warm, personal, political and detailed, Wild Fell invites people into the evolving conversation about the future of our natural world."
Cumbria Life

"Like the rivers it has rebent, the Haweswater project is re-wiggling farming into a more sustainable alignment with nature. And by similarly refusing to operate in siloed straight lines, Schofield's own journey towards greater collaboration may have lessons to teach both of the UK's rural tribes."
New Statesman

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