Surprisingly good

When Sam gave me a series called British Isles: A Natural History admittedly I wasn't that excited.

I mean... England. They have pollution. They have rain. They have green paddocks and sheep. They have stony places they mistakenly call beaches. Yeah. I partly descend from the Brits. My ancestors must have left that place for a reason.

I confess I was wrong! It turns out there is a whole lot more to this group of islands off the European coast. The scenery is surprising in its beauty and diversity. There are Bahama-like golden beaches on the Isles of Scilly, old pine forests of Scotland, the moors, the woodlands, the meadows, the extensive coastline, marshes, rocky islands. And then there are the wildlife- wildflowers, beautiful trees, animals like pine martens and puffins... it was as inspiring as it was beautiful.



Presented by Alan Titchmarsh, the series journeys through the history of the British Isles and examines how its current state is the product of an amazing variety of events, from ice ages to desertification, tropical rainforests, volcanic activity, sea inundation, connection to the European continent, and of course anthropogenic impacts. Alan Titchmarsh made it interesting and accessible to anyone and you could really tell that he was enjoying what he was doing.

My favourite part was when Alan saw a swallowtail butterfly and confessed that he always wanted to see one ever since he was a lad. I loved that emotion in his voice. As a fellow nature-freak, that's what it's all about. That... feeling... when you see a beautiful animal in the wild (I imagine that if I saw wolves or tigers or orcas I'd probably be so overcome I'd just sob!- seeing them in the zoo isn't the same).

I really enjoyed this, even more than I enjoyed watching David Attenborough's The Life of Mammals. It was amazing to see how much the British Isles have changed even in the last few thousand years, and while Titchmarsh speculated on the (possibly devastating) changes yet to come, there was always an underlying optimism in his message and this real sense that we have a responsibility to take care of the gorgeous surrounds we have been given, and it is indeed a heavy but worthwhile burden to carry.