"Look at it this way"

  I am currently putting together an updated unit on the Fenland landscape. Elements of this will be used in 2021. This image here is of the 'famous' leaning tree in Ely which I've photographed many times over the years. The Fens Biosphere project has received funding to support its work and has a new website. It aims to have the Fens declared as a biosphere. A Biosphere is a special status awarded by UNESCO to a unique and valuable landscape. Biospheres connect people, economies and nature to create a secure future we can all look forward to. They are about developing new ways of living, exploring new ideas and working together. The key characteristics of the area are suggested below: The geographical boundaries of the Fens Biosphere have been built around the following key aspects of this landscape: The peat soils, the ‘black gold’ of the Fens. Within the proposed boundary the dominant soil type is peat, intermixed with silt soils. Peat has become a scarce resource du...

I have worked in the Fenland city of Ely for the last six years - commuting in all weathers and at all times through the Norfolk and Cambridgeshire Fens... Edward Storey has died at the age of 88. He was a chronicler of the Fens: an author and poet. There was a lovely piece on Edward on BBC Radio Norfolk that I heard yesterday on the way home, which described him as 'a poet of place'. You walk the roof of the world here. Only the clouds are higher And they are not permanent. Trees are too distant for the wind to reach And mountains hide below the horizon. The wind labours through reed As though they were the final barrier. Houses and farms cling like crustations To the black hull of the earth. Here, you must walk with yourself, Or share the spirits of forgotten ages. Keith Skipper has written a lovely piece in the EDP. More to come on Edward in a future blog post.... Image: Alan Parkinson - Fens near Manea - CC licensed

On my doorstep for 20 years, and meandered through this region many times… a real edge land … Marshland: my recent blog post on west #Norfolk 's border region on the edge of the #Fens https://t.co/BZ7wbPM6wp pic.twitter.com/piyeKDoCg0 — Laurence Mitchell (@eastofelveden) July 6, 2016