#454: Longshaw Estate - new home of BBC's 'Springwatch'

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 things we looked out for when heading there as a child... half a century and more ago...

The estate is managed by the National Trust.

Map source

The programme started yesterday and is on iPlayer.

Multicams can be watched through the day....

e.g.here's a Short Eared Owl I just saw live... complete with distant traffic noise and a plane going over... the sounds of us impinging on the sounds of nature...

#243: Cave Paintings #3 - Cresswell Crags

As mentioned in previous blog posts, the possible specification that will emerge is likely to include some reference to early artworks which represent nature. The earliest of these that survive are rock carvings and cave paintings.

One proposed theme in the first iteration of the new specification is 'Life in the Early World'

This would include students exploring early representations of the natural world.

Cave paintings are the first examples of this.

The hand silhouettes in Cueva de las Manos (Cave of Hands) in Santa Cruz, Argentina, form part of an exceptional assemblage of cave art executed between 13,000 and 9,500 years ago. The site was granted @UNESCO World Heritage status in 1999 https://t.co/NEipFKHIRm ✋🖐🏾✋🏽🖐🏻✋🏿🤚🏼🤚✋🏽 pic.twitter.com/JpcEJlJvkA

— Prof Jamie Woodward (@Jamie_Woodward_) January 1, 2022

There are quite a few theories as to why people decided to decorate the walls of caves.

It's worth having a look at Jamie's book in the Very Short Introduction series: 'The Ice Age'.

Another related book here is 'Transcendence' by Gaia Vince, which explores the significance of this period in the development of language, which in turn led to storytelling. This will be appearing in the library / reading list posts as well.

In some associated posts, I have started to explore some of the possible places that students could be introduced to, which are perhaps a little closer to home. For those in the East Midlands there is a suggestion here:

In the UK, there is Cresswell Crags.

The website has plenty of information on the site.