I was lucky – my parents took me to the Brecks as part of an East Anglian holiday back in the 60s. We drove up the A11 in my father’s new ford Corsair and visited the flint mines at Grimes Graves. So for me England’s semi-arid nearly-desert is part of the landscape of my life – but generally it’s a place that when mentioned gets a ‘where’s that?’
So Jack Watkin’s article in the Independent brought my own memories flooding back; of those early holidays, and of other visits over the years seeing red squirrels (now gone from the Brecks), stone curlews and woodlarks and listening to the nightjars (pictured) churring their song into the dark.
The Breck’s has an interesting past – and you can read about that in the Inde article. The future of the Brecks has featured in these posts before (here’s an example). There’s been some encouraging progress in recent months – the A11 will be dualled but with measures to protect the stone curlew population. The local authorities – led by Breckland District Council - have adopted well-researched local plans that give effective protection to the area’s natural resources.
We’ve been working with landowners and farmers in the Brecks for over 25 years to help reverse the fortunes of the stone curlews – showing just what is possible. It’s a good start – but the Brecks is about so much more than ‘just’ stone curlews and it’s good to see that the richness of the area is now becoming more widely recognised.
Follow me on twitter.