After all that

 I run a few small sites online. Though it is far more important to be outdoors extremely offline wandering the actual 'environment' figuring the truth of it. Well, it isn't 'it' it is of course only us. Because the environment, or as we should rather only think, the ecosystems, are only as they are as a result of small p politics between humans. 

Changes in land use - even around here in these marginal regions, occur  far less as a result of government policy but socio political change. One example is that as most agree smaller farms are far better in the long run for ecosystems. But there is also a wider effect in that if the society around land use comprises a wider diverse people there will in fact be among such groupings more who genuinely care about ecosystems and land use practice and will one way or other organise resistance within their communities to wealthy  larger holdings where bad practice is noted.

In short real environmental care is in the longer run better established of smaller landholdings - often one woman, one man, are far more the norm. In other words gender and family politics matter just as much as grant schemes and 'public money for public goods' rhetoric.   

For some years I wander querying farmers and people connected to land subtly about this never spoken of aspect to balanced and healthier ecosystems. Good for me. The absurd Messiahs of the 'Green' parties and other movements like young environmental 'activists' can never speak of this as they have been perverted by 'clickbait' style campaigning which above all is terrified of one thing - encouraging ordinary people to combine in time immemorial groupings to support one another making small scale landholdings viable. One reason is that almost all 'environmental' campaigns are taken forward by city based people. If cities have become anything-goes hipster led ubersexual fests so be it. But it doesn't work for keeping medium term couplings going in places where the land actually needs stewarding. 

That is another far more interesting essay or two at some point.

But for now I thought I may be  a little sour and over reacting to what i full know is a very widescale movement to turn a large region into a kind of Cotswolds or Surrey overtended suburb (to attract in nice 'safe' rich house buyers). I have seen that gradually sweep over the whole of the region I roam in the title of these pages here. But spring and summer 2021 i have spent a lot of time wandering the South Shropshire region - unitary authority. Frankly because it is so depressing how the councils of these closer regions have turned us into Surrey - or to write more propper, the pseud environmentalists of this region have allowed that to happen.

Roaming South Shropshire in fact shows up just how failed these nearer counties are because the default has virtually become in that county: leave it bloody well alone.  And it so matters. Verges habitats are left to flower and re-establish naturally. Even alongside quite busy roads for example the road that is the 'bypass' to Bishops Castle has leave our verge signage along it at the council clearly chime. 

Ok some tie dyed econuts and their little signs you may say. It is far more important than that because it is SYMBOLIC. It sends a message also to farmers and other landholders including even domestic gardeners,  that we do as a society at large change back to symbiosis with nature by default where possible. And nature is the opposite of the mower.

But South Shropshire is one small area. In fact counties like Powys and Herefordshire are the ones which should lead in this because there is far more land that is away from built up areas and could so easily be left in places to return more to a natural state even if it is just verges and other utility and spare land where mown pathways are frankly an absurdity.