Wild Fell: Fighting for nature on a Lake District hill farm

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A visionary, practical and lyrical book on restoring land, from one of the best in the game, on the front line of nature restoration. -- Benedict Macdonald The book was right up my street. I love the Lake District dearly and am an avid fell walker, but in recent years have become concerned by snippets of information about how badly nature fares in this sheep-farming landscape. Yet I've never felt properly informed about the situation until I read Wild Fell. I felt my eyes were finally opened both to the huge scale of the problem and to the possible (if supremely challenging) solutions. Authentic, honest and clear-sighted – Lee Schofield offers a practical and hopeful example of how to return nature to all our landscapes using imagination, compromise, humility and sheer hard work. This is an important book and fully deserves its place alongside James Rebanks and other contemporary Lakeland classics.”

Following the chance discovery of a battered scrapbook in a Carlisle auction house, retired TV director Gary embarked on a remarkable journey to unearth the identity of its owner. Intrigued by what he found in the book – a treasure trove of pri nts, postcards, photographs and 40 beautiful watercolours that told of an undiscovered Cumbrian artistic talent – Gary's research took him from Carlisle down through the Lake District to Barrow-in-Furness, then on into Scotland, Wales and even further afield to Canada, Sweden and East Africa. Gary recounts the detective work that built a worldwide community and that was able, in time, to put a face to the scrapbook's enigmatic owner. This very good book will certainly be in my shortlist of books of 2022 even though we are only in February – it’s that good”But in the contested landscape of the Lake District, change is not always welcomed, and success relies on finding a balance between rewilding and respecting cherished farming traditions. This is not only a story of nature in recovery, it is also the story of Lee's personal connection to place and the highs and lows of working for nature amid fierce opposition. Schofield, L. (2005). Public Attitude Toward Mammal Reintroductions: A Highland Case Study. MSc. Imperial College, University of London. Accessible online Wild Fell invites us to recognise that through the simple expedient of working with rather than against nature, we also reawaken a greater sense of ourselves and our place in the locale; it is absolutely the book that needed to be written about the Lake District. Under his nuanced exposition, Schofield cuts through the white noise and leads us towards a landscape that is alive with possibilities and where those plants and pollinators, birds, fish and animals are all ready and waiting; all we need to do is to decide that’s how we want it to be. Like this, he foresees, that icon of the wild, the golden eagle, may yet return to our skies. Thrown to the wolves. Final article in Shadow Species series focuses on the wolves of the Lake District. Cumbria Life/Feb 2021. Version also available as a WildHaweswater post The bar will open and supper will be served. Then settle down for the ultimate Lake District pub quiz, hosted by Mark Richards, with prizes. Raffle, with proceeds going to Ambleside Action for a Future.

Across the Lake District there are groups of people trying to change things, experimenting with different paths. People trying to see if there are different healthier ways, ones that provide a long-term future for people and wildlife, together. One such group is the RSPB in Haweswater, Lee Schofield is one of the rangers there and this is the story of their journey.

Saving nature is a tough job. In Wild Fell we get to understand why people do it: real soul-deep passion.” Wild Fell is a call to recognise that the solutions for a richer world lie at our feet; by focusing on flowers, we can rebuild landscapes fit to welcome the majestic golden eagle again. Wild Fell documents a powerful journey through a bruised, beloved English landscape, expertly told from Lee's unique perspective. Sensitive, full of empathy and charged with a fierce, solution-based vision for a restorative, productive future alongside the natural world. I felt utterly compelled by his wise, deft prose, and am so grateful this book has been written. A remarkable debut. Sophie Pavelle Warm, personal, political and detailed, Wild Fell invites people into the evolving conversation about the future of our natural world."