Press Release

Press Release Archive: Friday 01 October 2010

Best of British nature writing celebrated – past and present

New book published – Nature Tales: Encounters with Britain´s Wildlife

A landmark anthology celebrating British wildlife and landscapes was published yesterday by Elliott & Thompson and The Wildlife Trusts. Nature Tales contains some of the world’s greatest nature-writers spanning more than 300 years.  Included are voices from the past: Gilbert White, author of the classic The Natural History of Selborne, the celebrated Northamptonshire poet and writer John Clare and Charles Darwin.  As well as writers familiar to fans of modern British nature writing such as Stephen Moss, Robert Macfarlane and Ruth Padel. Sir David Attenborough, vice-president of The Wildlife Trusts contributed the foreword for the book.  He said:  "I have been fortunate enough to travel widely, but I continue to be inspired by wildlife at home.  Reading through this volume I have been reminded that I am not alone.  This wonderful collection of some of the greatest nature writers in Britain’s history is a pleasure to read from start to finish and a valuable addition to any naturalist’s library." There is something for everyone: from Nick Baker diving with basking sharks off the Cornish coast to Bill Oddie’s recollections of being bitten by a range of British wildlife.  Also included is the son of a Lincolnshire landowner, Sir Joseph Banks, born in 1743.  Famed as a botanist and explorer, as a boy Banks enjoyed exploring the Lincolnshire countryside and discovering its wildlife. Naturalist and television presenter, Steve Backshall, said:  "As a kid I was inspired more than anything by writers who managed to make natural history, and the wild, exotic world come to life.  Authors like Jack London, Willard Price and Wilbur Smith, who created impossible missions and wondrous characters that made me yearn to be experiencing their adventures for myself. "Later in life it was the real life tales of Gerald Durrell, Charles Darwin, Sir David Attenborough and Alfred Russell Wallace that caught my imagination, and cemented the certainty that such achievements and experiences need not be merely fiction.  To be thought worthy of inclusion in a work that contains such giants, is one of the most exciting things that has ever happened to me!" Nature Tales is available from Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust shops: The Wildlife Gift Shop, Castle Square, Lincoln; Gibraltar Point Visitor Centre; Far Ings Visitor Centre; and from The Trust Headquarters at Banovallum House in Horncastle.

Notes to Editors

1. Some original stories from within the book are available for extract.  A full list can be provided on request.
   
   
2. Nature Tales, published in hardback by Elliott & Thompson priced £18.99, is the second book to be published by Elliott & Thompson and The Wildlife Trusts, after 152 Wild Things To Do, a guidebook to outdoor activities, was published by the partnership in May. 
   
   
3. Nature Tales has been compiled by Michael Allen and Sonya Patel Ellis.  Michael Allen is chair of The Wildlife Trusts.  A former teacher of English Literature at Cambridge University, and a passionate ornithologist, he enjoys reading widely about natural history in a variety of forms.  Michael said:  "It has been an exciting and challenging task to help compile the extracts from such a distinguished tradition, and to be able to select from such a wealth of current writers in the field.”"
   
   
4. The Wildlife Trusts www.wildlifetrusts.org There are 47 across the whole of the UK, the Isle of Man and Alderney.  We are working for an environment rich in wildlife for everyone.  With more than 800,000 members, we are the largest UK voluntary organisation dedicated to conserving the full range of the UK’s habitats and species, whether in the country, in cities or at sea.  We manage around 2,300 nature reserves covering more than 90,000 hectares.
   
   
5. The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust is dedicated to the conservation of wildlife and wild places throughout the historic county of Lincolnshire – from the Humber to the Wash.  The Trust is Lincolnshire’s leading nature conservation charity with over 25,000 members and around 100 nature reserves. www.lincstrust.org.uk
   

For further information please contact

Rachel Shaw, Public Relations Officer
Tel: 01507 526667   (ansaphone out of office hours)
Fax: 01507 525732
Email: Rachel Shaw

Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
Banovallum House
Manor House Street
Horncastle
Lincolnshire LN9 5HF

Website: www.lincstrust.org.uk