Yesterday, in Holland Park, I saw a boy in a tree. He was sitting contentedly at the top of a decent-sized ornamental maple, while a young woman - too young to be his mother - waited below with no sign of anxiety or concern. In due course the boy clambered ... Read More...

Waking to a sunny morning - at last! - and conscious as ever of my duties as The Dabbler's Jack Hargreaves, I was up betimes with a song in my heart and the Surrey Hills in my mind. Pausing only to don the metaphorical Norfolk jacket, set the metaphorical trilby ... Read More...

Here is a 'near impossible task' indeed - to identify 'the nation's favourite poem about the countryside'. Hmmm. The National Trust might be a little more honest about it - rather it's an attempt to get National Trust-supporting types to make a choice from a highly contentious shortlist drawn up ... Read More...

Dabbler Country is The Dabbler's outdoorsy column. Today, Nige finds the nature-noter's perfect book... I think I've found the perfect bedside book, at least for those of us of an outdoor-loving disposition. It came to me via my Derbyshire cousin, who found it - of course - on the shelves ... Read More...

Dabbler Country will be another recurring feature on the site, as our intrepid dabblers - headed by the web's leading nature-noter Nige - venture into the Great Outdoors.For the debut, Nige on August and swifts... August Every schoolchild knows that August is the best month of the year. Every adult ... Read More...