Many of those who regularly walk around the countryside will have at one time or other come across a path which seems to end abruptly, or a footpath sign that points across the middle of a ploughed field. Ancient rights of way may be marked on a map but on the ground don’t seem to exist. Often this is down to the incompleteness of legal records regarding public rights of way. But the end of the confusion is at least in sight as a working group, whose aim is to tidy up all the contentious rights of ways, has been set up. Landowners, farmers and the Ramblers have now put a set of proposals together for Government to consider. The document is called Stepping Forward and you can read more about this in May’s Countryman which is now on sale.

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The birds are singing loudly in the trees, two remaining Canada geese are chasing each other and a single cormorant stands like a garden ornament at the edge of the reservoir. Above it is cloudy but the spring weather is pleasant… in fact, a scene pretty much the same as I witnessed last weekend – except today the sky is not painted with criss-crossing vapour trails. The force of Nature in the form of Iceland’s volcanic eruption has temporarily put an end to any airborne activity by humans in this part of Europe. But what about the others who share the sky?
This is the main goose migration period and there is concern for the welfare of  whooper swans and several kinds of geese which at this time of year are usually migrating from Britain towards Iceland and beyond. The Wildlife and Wetland Trust have been tracking whooper geese using satellite technology and noted that some were heading towards the deadly ash. They also report  that there is dense ash and total darkness to the southeast of the volcano, near the area dubbed ‘Whooper Airport’ because it is where most of the birds land after their migration.The effect of the eruption on Nature will be far reaching and much more devastating than just having a holiday delayed.

To follow the plight of the whoopers visit http://www.wwt.org.uk/whooper

‘There is nothing so natural as a routine: the fox crosses the field at the same time each evening, the flower head of goatsbeard opens for the morning and goes to bed at noon, in late April the cuckoo arrives, each May the rowan flowers and on Sundays I go for a good long walk.’
The above is the opening line by A J Grace in his Woodman’s Notebook column for May’s Countryman which will be on sale later this month. He’s one of my favourite writers; I always look forward to his latest column landing on my desk. Over the last few weeks as the weather has steadily improved I’ve tried to copy the routine he mentions by heading out for a walk every Sunday morning. It’s been difficult to get into regular walking over recent years, not just because I’ve a very busy working life which is far from being Mon to Fri, 9 to 5, but also because I am a single parent. Now my son is a grown-up I’m more determined to make that walk a routine. A few hours of sunshine this weekend has brought out a great deal of colour in the local countryside making today’s ramble even better. Lambs lazed in the sun and all kinds of birds chatted away. I watched a frog swim mechanically across an old mill race and a large hare bound effortlessly over a field. All routine stuff for them, I suppose, but these simple events certainly helped me to relax in preparation for the week ahead.

The cover we’ve chosen for May’s magazine shows Ironbridge – that famous icon of British industry. Once a cradle of the industrial revolution it is now a great example of how nature can claw back the countryside. The world’s first iron bridge was erected across the Severn  in 1779, now the beautiful wooded gorge is tranquil and attracts both country lovers and those with an interest in our heritage. This got me thinking about all the other places where industry and countryside were once at odds but are now quiet and peaceful. The old Cornish mines, the Welsh valleys and the lead mines of the Yorkshire Dales to name but a few. Many of these areas, some still bearing the relics of their industrial past, now attract tourists by the thousands yet at one time that countryside would have been written off. Do you know of examples?
Photo shows a former lead smelting mill in Swaledale.