"Look at it this way"

 ...but they can't do it free of charge... this is not a great idea. Story here. And in totally unrelated news... "The newly created Alliance for Wales’ Rainforests (AWR) says only about one in five of the 68 temperate rainforest sites it has surveyed are in good condition" New report urges Welsh Govt to safeguard Cymru's rainforests: https://t.co/G6S7eGI6ZA — Guy Shrubsole (@guyshrubsole) November 26, 2024 And finally.... 

Around this time of year, a growing percentage of arable land in the UK starts to turn yellow as the rapeseed comes into flower.  Living where I do, in central Norfolk, there is a lot of it about, in the fields around Dereham, Swaffham, Fakenham and towards Downham Market.  On the way to work each day I pass through Fincham near Downham Market, and the farm and processing plant for Mr Hugh's: a rapeseed oil brand which is sold in local supermarkets. This has now gone national in its availability. It's the one I choose for cooking out of preference. Read the story here. Some years ago now, I added an activity to my KS3 Toolkit book: 'Look at it this Way: what are your views on landscapes?'  This is still available from the GA Shop. The activity was inspired by a newspaper clipping / story on Japanese tourists who were visiting the rape fields on coach trips.

One of the successes of lockdown for Amazon Prime was the show Clarkson's Farm. It showed the difficulties of making a living in farming. Clarkson took over the running of a farm he owned, but had previously had a tenant farmer running it before his retirement. He had owned the 1000 acres in Oxfordshire since 2008 but never had to farm them before. "How difficult could it be".  The filming coincided with lock down, so the show also featured the issues with that for farmers, and the challenge of setting up a new farm shop and dealing with legislation. The show was quite educational, pointing out the logistics and geography of how a field is ploughed so as to leave room for spraying once the crop starts growing... As with Top Gear, a lot of it is apparently pre-scripted and there were set ups for comic effect - the huge Lamborghini tractor that he buys which doesn't work with other equipment as well as it should, and the local handyman who he can't understand becaus...

Alasdair Rae has produced a number of excellent maps, and this is one his most useful projects to date. This BBC News article is interesting, and explains something of the project.   You can use the tool linked to from above to explore your own area. Have a guess what the percentages might be before you do this, or compare your area with the country. There are some interesting additional facts in this blog . I like this one for example: Buildings cover less of Britain than the land revealed when the tide goes out... Download the whole Atlas of Land Cover in the UK here.... I put in my own postcode where I live, expecting a larger than average amount for farmland... And unsurprisingly, it is up to 81%, with only 3% built on...   You can follow Alasdair on Twitter. @undertheraedar