"Look at it this way"

There are some dramatic pictures and videos emerging from the Swiss village of Blatten , and plenty can be found online. The village had been evacuated some days ago because of fears the Birch glacier was disintegrating, one person has been reported missing, and many homes have been completely flattened. Blatten's mayor, Matthias Bellwald, said "the unimaginable has happened" but promised the village still had a future. Local authorities have requested support from the Swiss army's disaster relief unit and members of the Swiss government are on their way to the scene. The disaster that has befallen Blatten is the worst nightmare for communities across the Alps. The village's 300 inhabitants had to leave their homes on 19 May after geologists monitoring the area warned that the glacier appeared unstable. Now many of them may never be able to return. For more on this, check out David Redfern's Substack , which includes an excellent analysis of the situation. Sub...

The location for the BBC's Springwatch / Autumnwatch programmes has often been in places I know well, and even very close to home. From Pensthorpe near Fakenham to Minsmere, and particularly Ken Hill in Snettisham (where I lived for 12 years)... And now they've moved to an area of Derbyshire which I visited regularly for decades when I was younger, for walks, climbing, pubs and generally getting out of the city and into the countryside at weekends. The new venue is the Longshaw Estate, which is close to Grindleford (with its famous cafe and where my parents actually had their honeymoon), and Hathersage, and Fox House (where I was first served alcohol in a pub... but that's another story.) Burbage Brook - a classic location for fieldwork for schools from Sheffield - runs through it - through Padley Gorge, and Stanage Edge is not too far away, or several of the other edges where I used to climb. Heading for Hathersage you will pass Froggy Rock and then Surprise View - always...

During the 125th anniversary year of the GA, I tried to collate a list of 125 inspirational places using a Google Form. I didn’t quite get enough places, so never did anything with the responses I got in the end.  Check out the Inspirational Places website that I created for a project I did with Professor Peter Knight as well. Perhaps it’s now time to try to get a good set of responses so that I can share them and use them next time I teach my Landscapes topic, which needs a little more  Please go to the form here and tell me about an inspiration place that is worth visiting in the UK.