Ruth Binney - The English Countryside

RUTH BINNEY

Introduction

Part 1: The Shape of the Countryside

The Message in the Rocks
Fossils and where to find them

Pictures in the Rocks
Shapes and illusions in the landscape

Used in the Stone Age Discovered Today
Finding flint tools

Ancient Waves
Reading the ridges on the hillside

The Dead Lie Here
Barrows of different shapes and sizes

Here Be Giants
Immense chalk figures

Legends in Their Hooves
Horses carved on the hills

The Most Ancient Enclosures
The story of walls

Stepping Stones of History
Crossing rivers and streams

Now You See Them
Streams that come and go with the seasons

Craters in the Chalk
How rain makes holes in the ground

Tracks of the Memory
Ley Lines and what they may mean

All Human Life is Here
The legends of Englands standing stones

The Ultimate Temple
Stonehenge site of worship and celebration

If Trees Could Talk
How to date an English hedge

Tracks and Traces
How plants mark out roadside verges

Marking the Miles
Guides for the traveller

Where to Make a Wish
Passing over a stile

Underground Mysteries
The secrets of limestone caves

Mysterious Waters
The truth about dewponds

Hidden Treasure
The countrysides buried riches

Living Pavements
Taking root in holes and crevices

Here be Spirits?
The truth behind fairy rings

Puzzles in the Grass
How turf mazes are created and why

Sacred Waters
The story of springs and wells

Bronze Age Neighbours
How the English village was founded

Ghostly Remains
Englands lost villages

Whats in a Name?
Tracing the roots of Englands places

The Perfect Roof
How thatch is cut and used

Before There Were Banks
The many uses of the barn

Creatures of War
How horses came to work the land

While the Sun Shines
The traditions of haymaking

With Grateful Thanks
Bringing in the harvest

Nest in the Straw
The home of the harvest mouse

The Devils Circles
Unravelling the mystery of crop circles

A Plague on You!
Scaring away the crows and other birds

At Home with the Beetles
Insect banks and farmers friends

Fields of Blue
An ancient crop right for today

On Fire!
Why heathland is put to the flame

Versatile Fuel
The many uses of bracken

Wealth on Four Legs
The history of Englands sheep

The Closest Partnership
Shepherds, their sheep and dogs

Ancient Ancestry
The cattle of Englands pastures

Teeming Dung
The ecology of the cowpat

To Eat and to Roll
Cheese an ancient country food

Of Meat and Magic
Pigs in fact, farming and legend

The Fatal Triangle
A place for punishment

Part 2: The Living Countryside

Things that Make Humps in the Night
How molehills are created

Which Way is West?
How ants make and orientate their nests

You Eat Me Ill Clean You
Birds and ants working in partnership

From Pet to Pest
The changing reputation of the rabbit

Fact or Fantasy?
In search of Englands big cats

Winters Weather Forecaster
Can the hedgehog forecast the cold?

Swift, Silent Killers
The owls that hunt before darkness falls

Terror of the Skies
The peregrine falcon on the wing

Witches in Disguise?
Why hares are creatures of wonder and legend

Ballet of the Dancing Birds
How starlings gather by the thousand to roost at dusk

Tracking the Midnight Traveller
Where the otter leaves its mark

Natures Gravediggers
Exploring the community life of the badger

Thief in the Night
Saving the nightjars reputation

Natures Fairy Lights
The glow-worms cool green sex signals

Creatures of the Night
The ways of the fox

Sunshine Spectacular
Moths that fly by day

Tiny and in Peril
How winter cold threatens the minute goldcrest

Omens of Death?
The lore and life of bats

Dangerous Ways
The woodcocks chancy habits

Keep Off!
How butterflies deter predators

Choral Evensong
The calls of bush-crickets and grasshoppers

Bird of Good and Ill
The ways of the cuckoo

Good Enough to Eat and Drink
Treasures of the edible countryside

Pretty but Deadly
Poisonous plants and how to spot them

Poison in Wood and Field
Fungi to treat with extreme caution

To Cure the Sick
Wild flowers with healing powers

Relics of the Past
Woodlands in history

Legends in Their Boughs
Englands mighty oaks

Trees in Danger
Diseases that threaten Englands landscape

Ancient Markers
The plants of Englands oldest woods

The Everlasting Tree
The life of the small-leaved lime

The Tree with Mystic Powers
The ash tree in life and legend

Branches of Holiness
How the yew tree became sacred

Living Meat?
The extraordinary beefsteak fungus

The Magic Carpet
Life in the leaf litter

Fighting for a Mate
Stag beetles in combat

Trials of Strength
The life of the deer

Feeding Frenzy
The spectacle of the mayfly

The Record Breakers
Heavyweight freshwater carp

They Walk on Water
Amazing adaptations of pond life

Threatened by Cultivation
Rare flowers of the countryside

Black Gold
Precious peat and where to find it

In for the Kill
The plants that eat insects

Stealing a Living
How plant parasites make good

Rare Beauties
Where to find Englands elusive orchids

Whos My Baby?
The saving of the large blue

The Paper Makers
The building of a wasp nest

Evil on Four Legs
Saving the reputation of the toad

Green Invaders
Immigrant plants that rampage through the countryside

The Railway Traveller
How the Oxford ragwort broke out

I t may not be exotic but the English countryside is a truly remarkable place. So remarkable, in fact, that the most difficult part of writing this book has not been what to include but what to leave out. In making my choices I have taken my cues from the features of the landscape, and the plants and animals within it, that have mysteries to unravel, stories to tell or which live or behave in an unusual way. These are tales of ancient civilizations, of the way the land has been worked over the centuries, and of the way in which these activities have left their mark in everything from the ridges and burial mounds on the hillsides to prehistoric walls and stepping stones, springs, wells, crop circles and hedges. Caves, carvings and megaliths are included and even the animals that graze peacefully in farmers fields have remarkable histories. There is treasure to be found too hoards of it buried beneath farmers fields.