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

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Wild Fell is not just an inspiring book about the rewilding of a hill farm but also one of the most clearly written books on general ecological and conservation principles – many light bulb moments occurred whilst reading it. As such, I bought it for a colleague who wants to learn more about ecology in general (and she loved it too). As the competing needs of agriculture and conservation jostle for ascendency, land management in Britain has reached a tipping point. Candid, raw and searingly honest, Lee Schofield offers a naturalist’s perspective of the challenges unfolding in the ancient yet ever-changing landscape of Haweswater and shares with us his gloriously vibrant vision for the future.” Like the rivers it has rebent, the Haweswater project is re-wiggling farming into a more sustainable alignment with nature. And by similarly refusing to operate in siloed straight lines, Schofield's own journey towards greater collaboration may have lessons to teach both of the UK's rural tribes."

Although Schofield works for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, this book is much more about the creation of the right environment for the flora to thrive and in so doing enable the fauna to rejuvenate, including the birds. 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.Hexham Book Group's meets on the second Tuesday of the month at 7.30pm in Scott's Café at the Forum Cinema, Hexham. Nature Room 101 with Dr Amy Jane Beer & Lee Schofield. A light-hearted chat about nature for the Into The Wild Podcast with Ryan Dalton and Nadia Shaikh. Podcast/August 2023 A thrilling nature-led recovery in the Lakes. Interviewed by John Craven for an article about Haweswater. Countryfile Magazine/August 2022 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 Wild Fell is a beautiful, powerful book that subtly navigates great and complex challenges. George Monbiot

Wild Fell leaves you in no doubt that if we don't protect our wild blooms, there won't be any bugs and there won't be any birds and, ultimately, any people. BBC Countryfile Magazine Balancing culture and nature in the Lake District. Co-written with Malcolm Ausden, Danny Teasdale and David Hampson. British Wildlife/April 2020 Plant thefts are on the rise – and here’s why your garden could be at risk. Interviewed for an article on plant thefts, where I talk about the theft of pyramidal bugle from a remote crag in the Lake District. Telegraph/February 2021 Schofield, L. (2005). Public Attitude Toward Mammal Reintroductions: A Highland Case Study. MSc. Imperial College, University of London. Accessible online The pyramidal bugle, England's rarest mountain flower, is found in just one location in the whole of the country, on a cliff ledge in Haweswater.

It is a very contested landscape. Interview for Inkcap Journal, talking about work at Haweswater and land management elsewhere in the Lake District. First interview in the Future Land series. Inkcap Journal/Jan 2021 For inspiration, Schofield makes sojourns to Scotland, Norway and Italy, and even other parts of Cumbria like so-called Wild Ennerdale. This provides a pleasant interlude for the reader and is quite eye-opening. I had no idea either that there were these other landscapes so closely matching the Lakes, or that they were so significantly better managed. The Lakes, and the English landscape more generally, really is in bad shape - yikes. Wild Fell leaves you in no doubt that if we don't protect our wild blooms, there won't be any bugs and there won't be any birds and, ultimately, any people. * BBC Countryfile Magazine *

This is a book about rewilding and joins a growing list of good books on the subject which are essential reading for all those engaged in present-day UK nature conservation ( Feral, Wilding (my book of the year for 2018), Rebirding (one of my books of the year for 2019), Regeneration(one of my books of the year for 2021) and The Implausible Rewilding of the Pyrenees (my book of the year for 2021)). This was a really interesting book. As someone who's involved in restoration in the States, I was particularly thrilled to listen to Lee describe the challenges and successes of restoration in England. The conflicts with the farming community, the joys of seeing salmon return, were all familiar territory, but some of the solutions were different and innovative. It was a great reminder that my region of the world is not in a vacuum and there are people everywhere dealing with the same or similar challenges. Where eagles dared. Second article in Shadow Species series focuses on golden and white talked eagles. Cumbria Life/July 2020. Version also available as a WildHaweswater post

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The symbol of all this was the golden eagles. Once relatively common in England, the last pair lived at Haweswater before going locally extinct due to the absence of a thriving landscape of prey. 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. Schofield talks about a desire to see wildlife, flora and fauna, return to a corner of the National Park that gets a moderate number of tourists, but is off the standard tourist routes. Situated on the eastern edges Haweswater is a man-made reservoir that supplies water to Manchester via a 96 mile long gravity-fed aqueduct. About 25% of the water for the North West of England comes from here, which makes it nationally important. In many ways Haweswater is industrial, yet it is also remote and peaceful. When I’ve walked there, I’ve always enjoyed a sense that I am somewhere where others aren’t, but I’ve not been looking with the eyes of Lee Schofield.