Results of the first sample survey of England’s 14,500 listed places of worship were published last week by English Heritage. It suggests that around ten per cent are in need of urgent major repairs and that two-thirds of congregations say funding major repairs is a constant worry. In response, English Heritage has produced Caring for Places of Worship, a practical guide, DVD and a website www.english-heritage.org.uk/powar.  Dr Simon Thurley of EH says: “We estimate that there are £925 million of outstanding repairs to be done in the next five years. Grants of £40 million a year help but the vast majority of repairs have to come from voluntary giving and have to be undertaken and organised by congregations themselves. The current climate of increased unemployment, low interest rates and reduced returns on invested capital make fundraising a greater challenge than ever. Alongside this, some congregations are finding the responsibility harder to bear unless their whole community comes together to support its most historic and iconic building.” EH will continue to assess places of worship and will add those which are most vulnerable to its Heritage at Risk register, making it easier for their congregations to attract the help they need from heritage organisations, local authorities and the wider community.

Photo shows St Mary’s at Broughton in Yorkshire - early Norman with additions up to the 15th century. The church overlooks the Countryman offices.

I was pleased to see this week that the CPRE are calling for action over the amount of man-made clutter in our countryside. Overhead wires, phone masts, advertising boards and pylons all all cited along with one blight which particularly annoys me – unnecessary road signs. We’ve all seen them… on my trip to work there are  pairs of no-limit road signs, 40mph signs and 30mph signs all within a stretch of less than 200 yards. All can be viewed within the blink of an eye - a total waste of time and expense. The CPRE tell me that on the B3006 in the South Downs there are 300 signs on a seven-mile stretch – that’s almost 45 per mile. Ridiculous.

I’ve often read about sightings of big cats around the countryside but never one this large and in the sky! Hope you can make it out – or is it just me? There were some wonderful cloud formations this morning during my walk over the moors – for a couple more sky photos visit my other blog on www.dalesman.co.uk (Editor’s Week).

It was good to see and hear curlews and lapwings while out on the moors this week. The curlew’s call, even if a little haunting (!) is a welcome sign of early summer around here. What I am surprised at though, for the time of year, is the lack of water. Streams are just a trickle in many places or have disappeared out of sight into their underground channels in the limestone. Even the major rivers seem lower than normal. Many householders in our village are supplied by a small private reservoir and they have been asked to preserve as much water as possible as it is at an unusual low for early June. My house is supplied by a bore hole which has not been known, in living memory, to run dry – touch wood. As I write, the skies are darkening and the forecast is for short showers so maybe some much-needed rain is approaching.
The photo was taken on Friday and shows the dry riverbed in Deepdale in north-west Yorkshire.

Don’t you just love traditional meadows. There just aren’t enough of them about any more… it may be a trick of the memory but I do seem to remember there being a lot more around when I was a youngster. I read somewhere that up to ninety-five per cent of ancient meadows have disappeared because of pesticides and changes to farming methods. So I was pleased to hear from the National Trust that they are creating wildflower meadows and will publicise them more throughout the summer. I’ll be giving further details about this in next month’s Countryman and you can also visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk
You don’t have to be a farmer or landowner to create meadows of course, and my picture shows a local churchyard where an area has been set aside for wildflowers which will be cut for hay later in the year.

The RSPB tell me that the first nesting pair of purple herons have been spotted in Britain. Coincidentally the site is at Dungeness in Kent where the society and other parties are battling against an airport development at nearby Lydd. The striking birds mainly breed in southern Europe and visit the UK in small numbers. But the nesting pair is set to be the first to lay eggs and raise young in the UK. The RSPB has set up round-the-clock protection.  If the eggs hatch successfully then it is hoped to set up a viewing station. The purple heron, closely related to the larger and widespread grey heron, can reach 90cm in height with a wingspan of up to a metre and a half. Meanwhile the RSPB is calling on the government to call in the planning applications for proposed expansion at Lydd Airport.  The local authority, Shepway District Council, controversially consented the applications in the face of a recommendation to refuse given on environmental grounds by the council’s own planning officials.  So far over 10,000 representations have been made to the Government Office of the South East to ensure this decision is scrutinised in a full public inquiry.

Travelling around the Cotswolds is always a delight but with so much in bloom at the moment the area looked – and smelled – particularly good for my visit on Thursday and Friday. If you get the chance to follow the Blossom Trail which is centred on nearby Vale of Evesham then don’t turn it down. The apple and plum trees look dazzling at the moment and with laburnum also blooming superbly the quiet country lanes are a fabulous sight. I’ll be writing about the Cotswolds in July’s Countryman but this week look out for the June issue which is about to go on sale. We’ve a special article on the forgotten army of the First World War – the Land Army Girls who worked in the fields to feed a nation. We’ve also a profile on naturalist Sir Peter Scott, and our forthright columnist Robin Page has a go at the planners. Visit www.thecountryman.co.uk to take out a subscription.
Photo shows a quiet lane at Swinbrook in the Cotswolds

The drive and initiative of rural people never ceases to amaze me. I was at the Yorkshire Rural Awards presentation event this week hosted by John Craven. Recipients of the awards, organised by Countryman’s sister magazine Dalesman, ranged from small hydro schemes to renovated cottages from ice cream makers to potato marketers. One innovative scheme involved a bed firm. Harrison Spinks Beds acquired their own farm in the countryside to keep flocks of British breeds of sheep and they now produce their own fibres for use in mattresses. They have also worked closely with Natural England to mark out areas of conservation of the local flora and fauna and plan to use their outbuildings to provide a visitor centre and accommodation. Maybe ‘innovative’ is the wrong word as our ancestors stuffed mattresses with animal coats for centuries but it is still good to know that our own countryside and British breeds can still have a big part to play today.
Visit www.yorkshireruralawards.co.uk for details of the scheme.

Although I’ve been off work, catching up on some holiday entitlement, I’ve woken up at my usual hour as if setting off to the Countryman office. But this week I’ve able to linger a while and take in a little more of what’s going on around me. Through the open bedroom window I could hear a song thrush. I listened to its beautiful tune for several minutes before a car door slammed shut and disturbed us both. I dressed leisurely and strolled the long way to the village hall to vote. The dandelions (mainly in my ‘garden’) were opening up to greet a strong sun; lambs were lying in the field content after a breakfast feast; the buttery gorse was out and trees were showing off some new greenery. Two house martins flew frantically in incomprehensible patterns and I caught the sound of rooks arguing in a distant copse. Another thrush entertained me in the churchyard then a horse popped its head over the wall to see who was walking down the lane. The bubbling beck was as clear as a bell… it wasn’t yet 7.15am but already I was feeling totally relaxed. Unfortunately, there was no one from the ‘Nature Party’ on the list of candidates.

While I’m driving and walking around the countryside I’m forever stopping and admiring the architecture, be it a church, a farm, a barn or the local manor house. There is such a variety of styles and designs - some peculiar to a particular area, others standard to the whole of the UK. Even this old utilitarian hay barn (above) has an endearing quality, a reminder of more austere times when concrete and corrugated iron were the most affordable materials a farmer could afford. High up on a desolate moor in Teesdale I came across this intricate little site (below). Despite being small and built of rough local stone it has obviously still serves a purpose, probably for looking after and treating the sheep of the high fells. They might not fit into many people’s twee vision of the countryside but aren’t they both super examples of our heritage and worth preserving?