Tourism | Now I'm 64

Reflections on the UK’s National Memorial Arboretum

Posted on November 8, 2023 by Platypus Man

Next Sunday, 12 November, is Remembrance Sunday, when the UK reflects on the sacrifices made by men and women who have died in the service of their country. Services and ceremonies of remembrance will take place at locations up and down the country, including the National Memorial Arboretum in the county of Staffordshire.

The Arboretum opened in 2001, and exists to ensure that –

“the unique contribution of those who have served and sacrificed is never forgotten
the baton of Remembrance is passed on through the generations
there is a year-round space to celebrate lives lived and commemorate lives lost.”

I am, at heart, a child of the sixties, brought up in the era of the peace movement to the sound of Edwin Star reminding us that “War can’t give life, it can only take it away,” and John Lennon pleading with us all to “Give peace a chance“. I accept that warfare might sometimes be necessary as a last resort, the lesser of two terrible evils, but any attempt to promote or glorify it is, and will always be, anathema to me.

I therefore visited the National Memorial Arboretum earlier this year with a degree of trepidation, fearing it would be little more than a shallow, macho glorification of armed conflict, a misguided homage to the notion that “might is right”. As it happens, I had nothing to fear: taken as a whole, the memorials are broader in scope, more sensitive and more thought provoking than I had imagined. Indeed, some have little or no direct link to the military services.

More than 25,000 trees have been planted on the site, which was reclaimed from old gravel workings and measures around 150 acres (60 hectares). It currently hosts around 400 memorials to individual units of the armed forces, to specific incidents and to sundry other causes and organisations. Memorials come in all shapes and sizes, and in various materials including steel and bronze, as well as glass and stone.

The centrepiece is the Armed Forces Memorial, an imposing Portland marble installation upon which are engraved the names of around 16,000 servicemen and women who have died in the line of duty or been killed by terrorists since 1945. Inspired by monuments of prehistoric Britain, a 43 metres diameter stone structure sits atop an earth mound 6 metres high. Depressingly, there is space on the walls for another 15,000 names to be added.

The Polar Bear Memorial was the first memorial erected at the site, and was dedicated in 1998, three years before the official opening of the Arboretum. It’s a tribute to the 49th West Riding Infantry Division, who adopted their distinctive polar bear cap badge after service in Norway and Iceland in World War 2. Around its base are the badges of the regiments in the Division, and the towns liberated or defended by them. Inside the bear is a capsule carrying details of those who died, together with personal mementoes. Versions of the Polar Bear statue have been erected at towns liberated by them in World War 2.

Another thought-provoking memorial is that to the crews of submarines. The Submariner’s Memorial was designed by sculptor Paul Day. Its representation of a conning tower, through which a sailor gazes up longingly towards the sky, eerily conveys the sense of confinement that submarine crews must have felt every day.

Some memorials, including the Clapton Orient memorial, hint at a fascinating story. Why, the casual visitor might wonder, do a soccer ball and a pair of soccer boots flank an obelisk commemorating members of the 17th Battalion Middlesex Regiment? The inscription gives the answer, telling us that “Clapton Orient were the first football league club to enlist en masse to serve king and country during the Great War.”

The club’s players enlisted in December 1914, serving in what became known as the Footballers’ Battalion. The inscription goes on to tell us that “Many [of the footballers] sustained wounds, and three of the club’s players made the ultimate sacrifice during the Battle of the Somme.” The memorial is based on an original, paid for and unveiled by Orient fans in 2011 at Flers, in the heart of the Somme battlefield.

***Memorial to the Royal Army Medical Corps***

It is not just members of fighting units who are honoured at the National Memorial Arboretum. One of the most striking sculptural works on display is a bronze memorial commemorating the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC). Sculpted by Alan Beattie Herriot, it features a member of the RAMC carrying a wounded soldier over his shoulder. Since the foundation of the Corps in 1898, 29 medics have been awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious decoration for military personnel in the British honours system.

***Memorial recalling the Christmas Day truce, 1914***

Another soccer-related memorial recalls the Christmas Day Truce in 2014, when British and German soldiers met in no man’s land to exchange gifts, take photographs and play impromptu games of football. For one day only these men decided to give peace a chance, and although hostilities resumed soon after, their action remains one of the most famous and inspiring encounters of the First World War. The memorial is based on a design by 10 year old Spencer Turner for the Football Association’s “Football Remembers” competition, and depicts a British and a German soldier shaking hands. Simple, but symbolic and very moving.

***The Aguila Memorial to 21 Wrens lost at sea in 1941***

It was not only men who gave their lives in the service of their country. The Aguila Memorial, carved from wood on a stone base, commemorates 21 members of the the Women’s Royal Naval Service (aka the WRNS / the Wrens) who were lost at sea in August 1941 when their ship the Aguila was torpedoed by a U-Boat. The Aguila was en route to Gibraltar where 12 of the Wrens were due to take up duties as cypher officers, and the other nine as wireless operators.

***“Free Spirit”, in memory of more than 1,000,000 horses and mules used by the British Army during WW1***

“Free Spirit” takes a very different look at the victims of warfare. Animals can be in the firing line too, and this bronze statue of a horse designed by Georgie Welch commemorates more than 1,000,000 horses and mules used by the British Army during the First World War. Most did not survive the ordeal.

One of the notable features of the National Memorial Arboretum is that it recognises wars are fought and won on the home front, as well as on the battlefield. One memorial, for example, commemorates the Bevin Boys. These were young British men conscripted to work in coal mines between December 1943 and March 1948, to increase the rate of coal production, which had declined through the early years of the Second World War.

Another memorial marks the contribution of the Women’s Land Army and Timber Corps, and rightly so: over the course of the two World Wars over 240,000 “Land Girls” and “Lumber Jills” produced desperately needed food and timber for the war effort.

The National Memorial Arboretum is full of surprises, and gives the visitor lots to think about. Two of the most striking memorials commemorate soldiers who were executed on the battlefield during the First World War, and children evacuated from their city homes into the countryside to protect them from bombing during the Second World War. This post is already far too long, so I will write about these two very different, and very special, memorials next time.

*** *** *** *** ***

Musical postscript

Writing this post has inevitably led me to a period of sombre reflection. At such times I tend to find that music – particularly within the broad tradition of English folk music – is better able to capture the emotions engendered by the realities and consequences of armed conflict than mere words written on a page. With that in mind, I offer you links to two songs that mean a lot to me. I hope they speak to you too. Listen, and quietly weep.

“And the band played Waltzing Matilda” was penned by Eric Bogle, a Scottish-born Australian singer-songwriter. It describes the grim realities and consequences of war, and the short-sightedness of those who seek to glorify it. Here is Bogle singing his anti-war masterpiece:

As a noted apologist for the British Empire, Rudyard Kipling, the English poet, short story writer, journalist and novelist, is not the obvious composer of an anti-war song. Perhaps he didn’t regard “Soldier, soldier” as an anti-war song at all? I do, for it is a stark reminder not only of the brutal consequences of war for the combatants, but of the pain and suffering of those watching from afar as events unfold on the battlefield. Here Kipling’s words are sung by English folk singers Anni Fentiman and Brian Peters, to an arrangement by Peter Bellamy

Wedding Cake – a temple of love in the English countryside

Posted on November 1, 2023 by Platypus Man

Portuguese artist extraordinaire Joana Vasconcelos has been at it again. I’ve written previously about her wonderful sculptural pieces, so when we read about the 12m high, three-tiered Wedding Cake installation she’s created at Waddesdon Manor in the English county of Buckinghamshire we were determined to check it out. We weren’t disappointed.

Vasconcelos describes Wedding Cake as “a temple of love”. The art, design and architecture website Wallpaper puts it this way:

Part sculpture, and part architectural garden folly, Wedding Cake is an extraordinary, gigantic, fully immersive sculpture that fuses pâtisserie, design and architecture.
Source: Wallpaper website, retrieved 23 October 2023

Wedding Cake is without doubt the Lisbon-based artist’s most ambitious work to date, baking in the oven of her imagination for more than five years. Clad in over 25,000 gleaming, icing-like ceramic tiles, the installation also boasts a vast array of ornaments in various forms, including mermaids, angels, candles and globes. Water spurts playfully from the mouths of dolphins, alongside ceramic cupids disporting themselves mischievously all around the circumference of this absurdly captivating creation.

The exterior is breathtakingly eye-catching, but there’s more. Stepping through intricate iron scrollwork doors, the visitor enters a colourful pavilion, a wedding chapel in which eight sky-blue columns bedecked in yellow stars support a domed ceiling designed to create the illusion of looking up at the sky. Its walls also feature sculptures of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of marriages and good luck, who was born in Lisbon.

**Inside the** ***pavilion, statues of St. James, patron saint of weddings and good luck, carrying a child in his arms***

As if one floor were not enough, ornate spiral staircases lead up to the second and third “tiers” of the cake, which offer new perspectives on Wedding Cake and the woodland grove in which it sits.

Here’s what Vasconcelos has to say about Wedding Cake –

“Many wedding cakes have pillars, columns, and tiers. In a way, my sculpture is about the relationship between these two worlds—pastry and architecture—that are not normally connected.”
Source: Quoted in the Vogue website, retrieved 24 October, 2023

Vasconcelos is clearly a creative eccentric. Fair to say, I’ve never seen anything quite like Wedding Cake before, nor do I expect to again. It’s definitely a one-off, a wacky, pastel-coloured masterpiece that is both preposterous and strangely compelling. Disappointingly, the reactions of fellow visitors were mixed. While some, like Mrs P and I, were blown away by the audacity of her creation, others weren’t convinced. “It’s too pink” said one woman, shaking her head vigorously and defying anyone to disagree with her.

Too pink? Duh! Can anything be too pink? I don’t think so. Just ask Barbie!.

Meanwhile, another visitor was moaning that Wedding Cake wasn’t at all what she’d expected. “Didn’t you do a bit of research and look at some photos of it before you decided to come along?” I asked sweetly.

“Yes, of course” she replied, regarding me as if I’d just crawled out from under a stone.

“And doesn’t what’s in front of you look just like what you saw in those photos?” I continued, the picture of innocence.

“Yes, but it’s not what I expected.” Oh dear, sometimes I despair, I really do! One of the purposes of art is to stimulate the imagination and encourage conversation, but there are some conversations I’d simply rather not have.

But hey, everyone – however weird! – is entitled to an opinion. And my opinion is that Wedding Cake confirms Joana Vasconcelos to be an artist of rare ambition and talent. I look forward to seeing more of her work in the future.

Out of Africa – Leonardslee Gardens and Sculpture Park

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Platypus Man

Our visit to the south of England earlier this year was full of pleasant surprises. Not least amongst these was the discovery of an unexpected outpost of southern Africa at Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens, located on the outskirts of Horsham in deepest, darkest West Sussex. The gardens were a haven of colourful tranquillity, to which the scattered sculptures of South African artist Anton Smit added an extra, intriguing dimension.

***“Ghemo Speed” amidst the colourful tranquillity of Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens***

Dating back to the early 19th century, Leonardslee’s ornamental plantings have received a Grade I listing on the national Register of Historic Parks and Gardens, and have been described as “the finest woodland gardens in England.” And yet this treasure was nearly lost forever. Having been sold to “an international business man”, Leonardslee closed to the public in 2010, after which the gardens were untended and left to grow wild…until Zimbabwe-born and South Africa-based entrepreneur Penny Streeter came to the rescue.

From the late 1990s Penny Streeter (b. 1967) developed a successful business in the arena of medical staffing, winning the title of CBI (Confederation of British Industry) Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003. She made so much money that she was able to diversify her business empire, buying up a South African wine farm and estate in 2013 and a West Sussex golf club in 2016, before turning her attention to Leonardslee the following year. Her ambitions for the new venture were, and remain, high:

The present owners…dedicated themselves to restoring, maintaining and further improving [Leonardslee’s] gardens and buildings so that the public can once again experience their beauty and unique qualities…[In 2019] the gardens reopen [sic] to the public after nearly being lost after years of neglect. Extensive restoration is ongoing to protect and preserve this heritage site for future generations.
Source: Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens website. Retrieved 02/10/23.

Despite the challenges caused by the pandemic shortly after it reopened, good progress has clearly been made in restoring Leonardslee to its former glory. The gardens are famed for their outstanding displays of Rhododendrons and Azaleas, which grow in a range of woodland and parkland settings. There are also no fewer than seven picturesque lakes. The overall effect, at the time of our visit, was restful and eye-catchingly colourful.

***“Agape”, just one of many Anton Smit sculptures scattered across the gardens***

Anton Smit’s sculptures add an extra dimension to any visit to Leonardslee, where his Walk of Life solo exhibition is described as “one of the largest sculpture parks in Europe by a single artist”. Born in South Africa in 1954, Smit is (according to his own website!) “widely revered for his overwhelming heads and monumental African sculptures, evoking themes of suffering, reconciliation, glory and sublimation.”

The collaboration between Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens and Anton Smit began in late 2019 and flows from a long-standing professional relationship between Smit and Penny Streeter. My guess is that both parties do very well out of the arrangement: Streeter gets to add a unique attraction to her business that sets Leonardslee apart from rival attractions, while Smit gets to showcase – and maybe even to sell – some of this magnificent sculptures.

Yes, that’s right, many of Smit’s sculptures on display at Leonardslee are for sale. The relevant websites are, however, noticeably shy about the price of his monumental pieces, and I’m not nearly brave enough to ask! Next time, maybe?

Meanwhile this blog, illustrated by Mrs P’s photos of our visit, will have to suffice as reminder of a delicious sculpture trail, and of the unexpected role two people from Southern Africa have had in the restoration of a significant English horticultural landmark.

Fat Bear Week starts tomorrow!

Posted on October 4, 2023 by Platypus Man

You’ve probably never even heard of Fat Bear Week, which starts tomorrow, 5 October 2023! Neither had we until we stumbled across a reference to it on a television nature programme about the wildlife of Alaska. Based in Alaska’s Katmai National Park, Fat Bear Week looks at how well the Park’s brown (a.k.a. grizzly) bears are preparing for the coming winter by putting on loads of weight. It’s a competition in which the fattest bear – as voted for by the general public – is the winner.

To prepare for hibernation Katmai’s grizzlies have to add a huge amount of weight, which they achieve by catching and eating vast quantities of salmon. Adult males can put on up to 500 pounds (230 kg) during the salmon run, which they achieve by wolfing down 30 to 40 fish in a single day, for week after week. Extraordinary!

In no way can Fat Bear Week be called serious science, but beneath the surface lurks a noble purpose – to encourage ordinary people to engage with the natural world, and to understand more about the challenges wildlife faces when the seasons change.

**Bear country!** ***Even if you can’t see them, they’re probably just hidden from view, so you are advised to shout “Hey bear” loudly to warn them of your presence.***

The competition began in 2014 as Fat Bear Tuesday, organised by a park ranger who got visitors to the park to vote – based on “before” and “after” photos – for the bear that had put on the most weight during the season.

Such was the level of interest that the following year the competition was extended to a whole week. The photos and voting were also made available online, together with video footage of the contenders, thus enabling the whole world – including bloggers in the UK! – to take part.

When I log on to the Fat Bear Week website tomorrow to check out the candidates and cast my vote, it will also be an opportunity to wallow in nostalgia for a while. Mrs P and I spent three fabulous weeks in Alaska in 2009, and one of the most memorable parts of our visit was a trip to Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park.

Brooks Falls is world-famous as the place to watch brown bears attempting to catch salmon that are moving upriver to their spawning grounds. It’s an iconic sight that has featured in countless television nature programmes, and experiencing it for myself has been one the highlights of my life spent watching wildlife.

Brown bears are potentially dangerous to humans, so it’s important to take care around them. Unsurprisingly, therefore, the first thing you’re told when you arrive at Brooks Falls is that you’re now in bear country. Bears rule at Brooks Falls, and tourists have to fit in.

One of the worst things any tourist can do is catch a bear by surprise, and to avoid this visitors are advised to yell out “Hey bear!” at regular intervals when following the trail to and from the falls. We did so, very loudly, and although we had many good sightings of bears – in the woods, in the river, and in and around our camp – uncomfortably close encounters were successfully avoided. Mrs P’s photos, which I’ve used to illustrate this post, give a good indication of the fun we had.

But sometimes things don’t go quite to plan. On the day we were due to fly out to continue our Alaska adventure elsewhere, I clearly remember exiting a small restroom close to where we were due to board our light plane, to be confronted, just a few metres away, by a bear emerging from the woods. We looked at one another in mutual shock and dismay! I made a hasty return to the restroom, and the bear – equally alarmed, I’m sure – retreated into the woods, never to be seen again. Wildlife encounters don’t get much better than that.

Viewed on the internet from several thousand miles away, Fat Bear Week promises to be less of a high adrenaline experience. Which is not to say that it will necessarily be without drama. In 2022, the competition was marred by attempted election fraud, with more than 7,000 fake votes being cast for a bear called Holly!

When the scam was discovered a recount was ordered, and in the end Bear 747 was declared the winner and became the official Fat Bear champion of 2022. Bear 747 was first identified as a sub-adult in 2004, meaning that he’s now in his mid-20s and clearly an outstanding representative of his species.

Hopefully Bear 747, Holly and numerous other magnificent brown bears will put on a show for me, and other followers of Fat Bear Week, in the days to come.

__ __ __ __ __ __ __

UPDATE – 11 OCTOBER 2023 – The results are in, and I’m delighted to announce we have a new Fat Bear champion. The final of this year’s Fat Bear competition was between bear #32, a.k.a. “Chunk”, and bear #128, a.k.a. Grazer. Their photos show both of them to be truly enormous, but the winner with 108,321 votes (including mine!) was Grazer, comfortably beating Chunk’s 23,124 votes. Happily there has been no suggestion of electoral fraud this year, and Grazer is without doubt a worthy winner. (photos below have been sourced with grateful thanks from the Explore.org website. )

The Explore.org website also provides biographical details of Grazer, as follows

Grazer was introduced to Brooks River as a young cub in 2005. Since then, she’s become one of the best anglers at Brooks River. She can fish successfully in many locations including the lip, far pool, and plunge pools of Brooks Falls. She can chase down fleeing salmon in many parts of the river or patiently scavenge dead and dying salmon after they spawn. Grazer will also fish overnight at Brooks Falls.

Grazer is a particularly defensive mother bear who has successfully raised two litters of cubs. She often preemptively confronts and attacks much larger bears —even large and dominant adult males—in order to ensure her cubs are safe. Her behavior produced benefits beyond the protection of her cubs. In summer 2023, many other bears remembered her reputation and Grazer maintained a high level of dominance even though she was single. For example, a large adult male, 151 Walker, regularly avoided her approach. Grazer’s combination of skill and toughness makes her one of Brooks River’s most formidable, successful, and adaptable bears.
Source: Explore.org website, retrieved 11 October 2023

So Grazer was around in 2009, when Mrs P and I visited Katmai. Maybe we’ve already met her?

An unexpected mural

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Platypus Man

Our town is recognised by UNESCO as part of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. The cotton mills erected along the Derwent Valley in the late 18th century witnessed the birth and establishment of the modern factory system that helped shape the world in which we live today. Belper is therefore rich in history, but in other respects is fairly ordinary, not exactly a cultural desert but boasting little of interest to the casual visitor.

So, imagine our surprise when we discovered that a large, eye-catching mural had suddenly appeared along the main road passing through the town.

Driving along Chapel Street about a month ago we were puzzled to see what appeared to be random splatterings of paint on the gable end wall of one of the houses that front the road. We assumed artistically-challenged vandals had been at work, and thought no more of it.

A few days later, we were amazed to discover the unfathomable daubings had morphed into a magnificent mural of a kingfisher. As well as the brightly-coloured bird, the mural also features magnolia blossom and a waterwheel, the latter being a reference to Belper’s industrial heritage.

The mural is the brainchild of the house owner, Steph Walsh, who thought her local area needed a boost. She told the local radio station “”When you drive into Belper and you see that expanse of grey wall, it’s screaming out for a mural…I think it will be a positive thing for Belper – it will be the first thing you see as you drive in.”

***Viewed from the other direction there’s no hint of Belper’s new, exciting mural!***

Steph showed great initiative by raising the money for the mural through crowdfunding. When enough had been generated she commissioned artist Sarah Yates to get her spray-paints out and do the business. Sarah has been spray-painting for 15 years, and specialises in producing spectacular murals of birds and animals. The portfolio of street art on her website shows her to be a rare talent.

So, respect and thanks to Steph for an initiative that definitely succeeds in brightening up her part of Belper, and well done to Sarah for turning Steph’s dream – which she says she’s had for 15 years – into reality. Well-executed street art clearly improves the urban environment and raises the spirits of all who see it, so let’s hope their great little project will encourage Belper to go mural-mad.

Highland Wildlife Park

Posted on September 6, 2023 by Platypus Man

For many years we had planned – but failed – to call in at the Highland Wildlife Park while driving north through Scotland on our way to visit the Orkney Islands, our favourite place in the whole world. At last, earlier this year, we finally got our act together and visited the Park for a few hours. And what a treat it turned out to be!

***Red deer in the foreground, dwarfed by the landscape of the Cairngorms National Park***

Highland Wildlife Park is located outside the town of Kincraig, in the Cairngorms National Park around 120 miles (193 km) north of Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city. It was the brainchild of land-agent Neil Macpherson (1933-2017), who wanted to share the wildlife he encountered every working day in the north of Scotland with a wider audience.

The Scottish Wildcat (aka the “Highland Tiger”) is a unique sub-population of the European wildcat, on the brink of extinction after hundreds of years of persecution and habitat loss, followed by hybridisation with domestic cats. The Wildlife Park participates in a major captive breeding project.

Neil’s dream came to fruition in 1972, when the 260 acres (105 hectares) Park opened its gates to the paying public for the first time. It was a source of great pride and pleasure to him, but perhaps not as successful as he had hoped. In 1986 the ownership and operation of the Park passed to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, which also runs Edinburgh Zoo.

Przewalski’s Wild Horse is the only living true wild horse. It was once totally extinct in the wild, but captive breeding projects have enabled successful reintroduction programmes.

Controversially, in 2007 the Park’s theme was expanded from Scottish wildlife to focus instead on species from tundra and mountainous habitats around the world. So today, as well as animals from the local area – including Red Deer and the critically endangered Scottish Wildcat – visitors can enjoy views of a variety of more exotic fauna including Snow Leopards, Turkmenian Markhor, Przewalkski’s Horse and Vicuna.

There are estimated to be less than 2,500 Turkmenian Markhor remaining in the wild. Conservation initiatives in Pakistan are showing some signs of success.

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland is a wildlife conservation charity whose vision is “a world where nature is protected, valued and loved.” Unsurprisingly, therefore, Highland Wildlife Park places a strong emphasis on education, as well as the captive breeding of endangered species.

Vicuna were hunted almost to extinction for their wool and meat until the 1960s, when Chile and Peru created protected national parks and stopped trade in vicuna wool. Since then, the population has steadily increased.

When we visited we were particularly pleased to get good views of the Park’s five Snow Leopards, parents Animesh and Koshi, and their cubs – born in May 2022 – Maya, Padme and Yashin. Being almost exactly 12 months old when we saw them, the cubs had lost much of their kittenish “cuteness”, having matured into impressive animals with exceptional appetites!

Several factors – including conflict with farmers, reduction in the population of prey species and the demands of traditional medicine – threaten the survival of Snow Leopard in the wild. Various conservation initiatives are being enacted to help reverse the decline.

In an ideal world the Highland Wildlife Park would be unnecessary. But our world is far from ideal, and it’s good to know that places like this exist to help protect species and spread positive messages about wildlife conservation. I’m sure we will call in again, next time we are on our way up to Orkney.

World Oystercatcher Day?

Posted on August 23, 2023 by Platypus Man

Today is NOT World Oystercatcher Day! Why not, I wonder? Just about every other worthy cause – and a few other causes too – have a day set aside to celebrate them. World Elephant Day, International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, World Breast Cancer Research Day, International Red Panda Day and International Talk Like a Pirate Day, to name just a few. So why not a World Oystercatcher Day?

OK, it’s confession time. I’ve been a keen birder for nearly 40 years, and the oystercatcher is my all time favourite bird. Now, not a lot of birdwatchers would ever admit that. Most would select as their favourite either a species that is exquisitely beautiful, or one that is vanishingly rare. Oystercatchers are neither of these things, but what the hell, I love ’em anyway.

Part of the attraction is that they’re unmistakeable. When you first take up birdwatching as a hobby, it can be very daunting to identify what’s right in front of you. Warblers in the UK, for example, are a bit of a nightmare – they all look pretty much the same unless you get up close and very personal with them – and US birders will know only too well the misery that is inherent in trying to distinguish between North America’s multiple species of sparrows. It’s all very confusing.

Not so with oystercatchers. It’s impossible to confuse a Eurasian Oystercatcher (aka the Common Pied Oystercatcher, or the Palaearctic Oystercatcher) with any other UK bird. A large, stocky, black and white wader with a long, orange-red bill and reddish-pink legs, its identity is beyond doubt.

But what I like most about these handsome birds is that they are unashamedly loud and proud. Oystercatchers boast an eardrum shattering ‘peep-ing’ call that is impossible to ignore. “Shy” and “self-effacing” are adjectives never used to describe an oystercatcher.

Of course, such vocal boisterousness isn’t popular with everyone. Mrs P doesn’t much like oystercatchers, and probably believes they should all be jailed for disturbing the peace. One day earlier this year, when we were birding in Orkney, I excitedly told her that in the small bay we were staking out I had just counted no fewer than 38 oystercatchers foraging for shellfish along the strandline. Mrs P observed dryly that, in her view, this was at least 37 too many. Huh!

***New Zealand’s South Island Pied Oystercatcher looks remarkably similar to our own Eurasian Oystercatcher***

In all, there are 12 separate species of oystercatcher across the world. They all look very similar, being either pied or plain black, with a red bill and pink legs. We’ve been lucky to see a few of these species over the years, and every encounter felt like a real privilege. New Zealand was particularly productive, enabling us to enjoy both the South Island Pied Oystercatcher, and the aptly named Variable Oystercatcher. What great birds they are (sorry Mrs P, but you’ve got to admit it, I’m right for once!)

New Zealand’s Variable Oystercatcher may be black all over, but may also have some white feathers too. Its plumage is indeed variable!

In my view, every day should be World Oystercatcher Day!

St Magnus Cathedral and Orkney’s turbulent Viking spirit

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Platypus Man

Set in the heart of Kirkwall, St Magnus Cathedral dominates the skyline of Orkney’s biggest town. Built from distinctive red and yellow sandstone, construction began in 1137, with major additions following in the early 13th and late 14th centuries. Its foundation reflects Orkney’s turbulent Viking spirit.

At the time, Orkney was ruled, and largely inhabited, by Scandinavians. Norsemen first came to Orkney in the late 7th century, and the number of arrivals rose rapidly over the next 100 years. Some came to farm, while others simply used the Orkney islands as a base from which to launch Viking raids on other coastal communities in Scotland and beyond.

By the early 12th century Orkney was part of the kingdom of Norway, ruled on behalf of its king by joint earls Magnus Erlendsson and his cousin Haakon Paulsson. This arrangement worked well for several years, until their followers began to quarrel. In 1118 Magnus was captured and executed by Haakon’s men.

After a few years Magnus was canonised, making him a saint of the Roman Catholic church. In 1137, Magnus’s nephew Rognvald commissioned a ‘fine minster’ to be built at Kirkwall in honour of his late uncle. Magnus’s remains were later re-interred in one of the columns of the cathedral, and lie there to this day.

St Magnus Cathedral is a striking achievement, a fine building in the Romanesque style with later Gothic embellishments, and boasting particularly fine vaulting in the nave. It is one of the oldest cathedrals in Scotland, and the most northerly in the whole of the United Kingdom. But perhaps not for much longer! Many residents of Orkney, particularly their leaders, believe their island home has been unfairly treated by both the UK and Scottish governments. They are calling for more autonomy.

One idea under consideration is that Orkney, which has a population of just 22,000, should quit the UK – and therefore Scotland – altogether, and become a self-governing territory of Norway! To be honest, even if a majority of Orcadians voted in favour I think it’s highly unlikely the British government would ever allow this to happen.

However, that such an audacious proposal has been voiced at all is an indication that feelings are running high. Orkney’s turbulent Viking spirit clearly survives to this day. But St Magnus himself was known as a pious man, a man of peace, hope and reconciliation, someone who prayed for the souls of the men about to execute him. I wonder how he would feel about these extraordinary developments?

Orkney’s tiny hidden gem – Primula Scotica

Posted on July 26, 2023 by Platypus Man

Orkney boasts various attractions both large and small, but none smaller than the Primula Scotica. Also known as the Scottish Primrose, this tiny flower can be found nowhere else in the world other than a few places on the north east coast of Scotland, including a handful of scattered locations on the Orkney Islands.

At the centre of Primula Scotica’s vivid purple petals is a white eye, with a bright yellow “pupil” at its heart. The photo above might suggest that these colourful blossoms are easy to spot in the landscape. Wrong! The flower is a mere 8 millimetres (0.31 in) in diameter, at the top of a stem that is itself just 4 centimetres (1.57 in) tall. It is more easily trodden upon than seen.

Primula Scotica is found only amongst coastal heath and grassland, normally within a few hundred metres of the sea where strong winds trim back taller plants that might otherwise out-compete it. Although it grows in areas of short turf, it’s so tiny that it is easily overlooked.

The biggest picture in the group above shows the view at Yesnaby, a coastal location on Mainland Orkney where Scottish Primroses are known to grow. We went there earlier this year hoping to see them, but struggled at first to “tune in” to precisely what we were searching for. We must have unknowingly walked right by countless specimens until, at last, we started to spot them lurking amongst the coastal turf. The other pictures in this group show just how small these flowers are. A cluster of four flowerheads would barely cover the nail on my index finger, and the blossoms are dwarfed by a British 50 pence coin. Never has the description “perfection in miniature” been more fitting!

Marwick Head – Orkney’s seabird city

Posted on July 12, 2023 by Platypus Man

Two of the features that have drawn us back to the Orkney islands again and again are the picturesque coastal scenery, and the magnificent birdlife. Marwick Head Nature Reserve, which comprises rugged sea cliffs 87m (285 ft) high, ticks both these boxes. And there is no better time to visit them than in spring, when the seabirds are nesting on the cliffs and the narrow fringe of coastal grassland is ablaze with flowers.

***Marwick Head, with carpets of sea thrift in the foreground and the Kitchener Memorial to the rear***

We returned to Marwick Head a few weeks ago, full of trepidation. Last year avian flu wreaked havoc on bird populations across the country, and we were anxious that its impact would still be apparent. As it happens, the number of birds on the cliffs remains high, although the seabird city was perhaps not quite as spectacular as we remember it. Avian flu could be responsible for the change, but perhaps climate change is also an issue?

One of the most common breeding birds at Marwick Head is the guillemot. They’re also known as murres in North America because of the murmuring sounds they make when nesting together.

Guillemots (aka murres in North America)

Guillemots belong to the auk family, and lay their eggs on bare rock ledges. Millennia of evolution has rendered these eggs pear-shaped to minimise the likelihood of them rolling off into the sea! Both male and female birds take turns incubating the eggs, and about three weeks after hatching, the chick takes the plunge into the sea. It won’t return to dry land until it’s ready to raise its own chick.

Another common bird at Marwick Head during the breeding season is the fulmar. It was not always so. Just 250 years ago this species was absent from the whole of the UK, but since then its distribution has expanded enormously. Once the season is over, however, fulmars make their way out to sea and will not return until the following spring. This is common amongst seabirds, which is why we prefer to visit Orkney some time between early May and late June.

Fulmar, also sometimes know (for obvious reasons) as the tubenose

The name “fulmar” comes from two Old Norse words – fúll meaning “foul” and már which means “gull.” This refers to a kind of stinking stomach oil, a defensive weapon that fulmars spit out to gum up the wings of predatory birds, causing them to plunge to their deaths. Perhaps it is for this reason that wild fulmars have an average life expectancy of at least 40 years. The lesson is clear: never, ever annoy a fulmar!

Razorbills are superficially similar in appearance to guillemots and breed alongside them, but – at Marwick Head, anyway – in much smaller numbers. They can be distinguished from guillemots by the thick black beak with a white stripe, which contrasts clearly with the thinner bill of the guillemot.

Razorbill, like the guillemot a member of the auk family

It was no great surprise to see a few razorbills at Marwick Head, but the close view of some gannets gliding past the headland was unexpected. Although gannets are not uncommon around Orkney we normally only spot them with binoculars, patrolling far out to sea.

The Northern Gannet may soon be breeding at Marwick Head?

This time we were treated to much better views, and one of the birds appeared to be carrying nesting material in its bill. Maybe a new breeding colony is establishing itself on Marwick Head? We’ll have to check it out when we return, as we surely will, in a couple of years time.

Man and moustache – Kitchener’s iconic recruitment poster *

If watching birds is your thing, Marwick Head is a fabulous place to visit. For students of 20th century British history it has an additional significance, as the location of the Kitchener Memorial. Field Marshall Lord Kitchener was once a national hero in England (but hated by many in Ireland, Sudan and South Africa), boasting a military career that extended far beyond his image in an iconic WW1 recruiting poster. In 1916 Kitchener – then a minister of war – was a passenger on the HMS Hampshire when she sank in mysterious circumstances off Marwick Head.

The tower visible in the central and right-hand images is the Kitchener Memorial

The Kitchener Memorial, an unremarkable stone tower on the clifftop at Marwick Head, was erected in 1926. It commemorates those who died after the Hampshire sank, including Kitchener himself. The Memorial is without doubt the most recognisable single feature on Marwick Head, but for me it is the wonderful seabirds that make this a must-visit destination whenever we are in Orkney.

* Lord Kitchener image credit: Alfred Leete, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons