Updates – Unlocking Landscapes

I’ve had a burst of American visitors in recent days (to my blog, not my house). So thanks for visiting, y’all, and sorry about the year you’ve had.

You may have noticed I’ve slipped to monthly posts on here. Between April and October I posted blogs every Monday without pause, which is a tricky task when working full-time. The focus on a regular deadline can be helpful, but it can also take over, meaning I wasn’t taking the time to focus on the bigger blogs that are waiting in the wings. Many of these posts need photo editing time as well as the writing.

What I’m writing

This is more one from the archive.

It’s been a very productive year for honey fungus in southern England, and even The Guardian are getting in on the scaremongering (sort of). I had a look back at a blog I wrote about honey fungus in 2020 and thought there were some important points to consider. Honey fungus is a native species, trees die, and they have an afterlife.

I think honey fungus is the messenger telling us our woodlands are suffering, not the ultimate cause. In my opinion any blame lies in climate change brought about by extreme fossil fuel burning, and the lack of funding for our woodlands (jobs, not just volunteers please) and their management.

And while we’re on the subject of mushrooms, I’ve just posted my 100th FungiFriday.co.uk blog! Please do subscribe to that blog if you’re a WordPress user, or by email if you’re not.

I’ve been reviewing some of my archive of landscape photos and want to do some posts about the Cairngorms in Scotland. About 12 years ago, when I went on trips to the Scottish Highlands, I was focused on using only one image (as above) in blogs and having more prose-focused posts. This means there are some wonderful (IMO) images which are sitting in my storage unpublished. They’re all based around walks so I will probably approach with that angle.

What I’m recording

In September I heard from Oli Steadman, a musician from the band Stornoway, which was a nice surprise. We decided to record a podcast about Oli’s 30-mile walk around south London’s remnant ancient woodlands (the Great North Wood). The walk is to raise funds to support the Fourth Reserve Foundation, a community organisation managing a slice of railway-side woodland in Brockley, south-east London. You can see Oli’s fundraiser here.

What I’m reading

*Ludwig Boedecker;’s photograph of Stefan Zweig’s Salzburg home in 1922, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*

I am in a long-Habsburg phase at the moment, having just finished Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig (1939), and now reading The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth (1932). Little did I know the authors were so well connected. I enjoyed the experience of reading Zweig but it certainly felt like something from a different era, shall I say. I don’t think the depiction of a disabled woman has stood the test of time.

Zweig’s novel ends with the First World War, which I just can’t seem to stop reading about at the moment!

Elsewhere, I love this collection of bat portraits by José Gabriel Martínez-Fonseca published on Peta Pixel.

What I’m hearing

The legend that is Jens Lekman has released his first album since 2017: Songs for Other People’s Weddings. I have been listening to Jens since I bought a copy of Oh You’re So Silent Jens at HMV Manchester in November 2006. This new album is songs #literally written for other people’s weddings, but developed into a love story between two people. Jens is such a legend – his songs are beautiful, funny and affecting. It also features a diamond in the rough, singer Matilda Sargren.

What I’m watching

At home we’ve started watching House of Guinness on Netflix, a fictional account of the family behind that beverage. It’s been panned by critics and many Irish people find it patronising. What I found interesting was that the programme covers elements of the Great Famine of 1845, and in my ancestral land of Connacht (now Mayo). It blows my mind to think my relatives would have been living among those scenes depicted in the programme.

Elsewhere I noticed the inclusion of Fontaines DC and Kneecap in the soundtrack (not quite 19th century) and wonder is it an attempt to tap into the burgeoning Gen-Z interest in Irish rebellion and anti-establishment counter culture? You could do worse than read A Star Called Henry by Roddy Doyle, kids.

In more historically-accurate news, I watched a 30 minute long account of the Thirty Years War on Epic History (above). Oh my, glad I wasn’t alive then! It’s a helpful guide to how modern Germany was shaped from many disparate regions and states into one greater whole.

And finally thank you to everyone who has supported my work with a like, comment or contribution. I really appreciate it. You can support the running costs for this blog here.

Another reminder to visit Fungi Friday 🍄

Thanks for reading.

Here’s my seasonal update of stuff you don’t need to know about, but then welcome to the Internet.

What I’m writing

Soon I will be self-publishing my third poetry collection, Fool’s Wood. It’s seven years since my last one and this collection has taken longer because of LIFE. There will be a booklet and also an audio recording.

Fungi Friday is enjoying its third autumn, with weekly posts on the subject and day of the blog’s title. I’ve moved to posting most of my fungi photography over there because it’s such a broad subject matter it needs a substrate of its own to prosper in.

I recently posted several blogs about my summer trip to the Austrian Alps. The posts include a visit to the spectacular city of Innsbruck, and some macro photography atop the peaks of Schafberg and Zwölferhorn in Salzkammergut (Sound of Music land).

I’ve posted a paean to the ash tree, a post compiling my many images of this imperilled European tree species. There’s better news about its prospects.

I’ve reduced my Instagram posting because I think it’s not an effective photography platform anymore. Blogs are much better. So I’ve put more time into posting my oak timber-framed building photos.

In terms of stuff coming up, I have a Swiss Alps blog still to post, a string of Irish blogs, and my tranche of July macro photography. All in good time.

What I’m recording

I’ve found the time and rhythm to record a few podcasts recently and I have some more still to come. You can subscribe via all the normal platforms or see my webpage.

What I’m reading

Seán Lysaght has just published his latest collection of non-fiction, Unveiling the Sun. I really enjoyed it, and you may also, especially if you are interested in Irish landscapes and wildlife. Seán’s writing lacks the affectation that has taken root in nature writing over here. That is of course a matter of taste, please don’t pile on, Re-birders.

Julian Hoffman released Lifelines earlier this year, another of my favourite writers who I have had the pleasure to meet and speak to down the years. The book chronicles Julian’s life in Prespa, delving into the human histories that have defined the landscape his has ‘come to call home’, as they say. It’s a great book and Julian is a first-class prose writer. Again, a matter of my good taste. There are plenty of brown bear encounters to enjoy.

I read Roddy Doyle’s A Star Called Henry in September and it will go down as one of my favourite Irish novels. A friend and reader of this blog (hi Allison) read it too and described it as a history lesson, as well as a great novel. So well put!

In case you missed it I wrote a long blog about my 20-year interest in First World War literature.

What I’m hearing

Alex G has a new album out, which I have been spinning on the old in-car CD player.

The Blindboy Podcast has really captured my attention recently. I realise how late I am to the party, one friend has been trying for a while now. Who knew pigeon poo could be so captivating.

What I’m watching

After 15 years I am once again watching The Wire. It is a TV masterpiece and the cliché is right, you should watch it. To add to the noughties nostalgia, my wife and I are watching it on DVD. There’s so much to understand here about structural racism, America’s failed war on drugs, political corruption and so much more. If you see series one in the charity shop DVD section, snap it up!

Thanks for reading.

Category: Updates

November 2025: beware of pity