{"id":1844,"date":"2014-10-28T16:58:08","date_gmt":"2014-10-28T16:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/?page_id=1844"},"modified":"2022-12-12T10:46:49","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T10:46:49","slug":"english-love-affair-with-nature","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/talks\/english-love-affair-with-nature\/","title":{"rendered":"Talk: The English Love Affair with Nature"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This talk is presented by <a title=\"About\" href=\"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/book\/about\/\">Ian Alexander<\/a>. It is based on the research done for <a title=\"Book\" href=\"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/book\/\">the book <em>&#8216;The English Love Affair with Nature&#8217;<\/em><\/a>, and lasts one hour including time for questions.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1969\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1969\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Bewick-as-thirsty-traveller-drinking-from-his-hat.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1969\" src=\"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Bewick-as-thirsty-traveller-drinking-from-his-hat-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Thomas Bewick as thirsty traveller, grateful to Nature for a spring\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1969\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Thomas Bewick as thirsty traveller, grateful to Nature for a spring. He is drinking from his hat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The talk covers the following topics:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The love affair; the idea of nature<\/li>\n<li>How the nation fell in love:\n<ul>\n<li>Gilbert White&#8217;s <em>A Natural History of Selborne<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Thomas Bewick&#8217;s <em>A History of British Birds<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>How the nation became ready for the affair:\n<ul>\n<li>From early beginnings, the mediaeval world view, natural theology, early collectors, romanticism and the industrial revolution<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>A nation in love (in fifteen ways)\n<ul>\n<li>From good books to art, geology, dinosaurs, explorers, collecting, conservation, birding,\u00a0 angling, gardening, back to nature, outdoor swimming, mountains, war, camouflage, film, sixties rebels&#8230;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Now and the future<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4015\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4015\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Wiltshire-CPRE-2015.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-4015 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Wiltshire-CPRE-2015-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Talk in Priory Barn, Bradford-on-Avon for Wiltshire CPRE 2015\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4015\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Talk in Priory Barn, Bradford-on-Avon for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cprewiltshire.org.uk\/\">Wiltshire CPRE<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The talk is illustrated. It is supported by<a title=\"Book\" href=\"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/book\/\"> free materials here on this website<\/a>; the accompanying book provides a more in-depth account.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Contact\" href=\"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/contact\/\">Contact me to arrange a talk<\/a><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">Past talks<\/h4>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4083\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4083\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/IMG_9006-Chocs-at-Grow-Chiswick.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-4083 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/IMG_9006-Chocs-at-Grow-Chiswick-300x172.jpg\" alt=\"After the Grow Chiswick talk\" width=\"300\" height=\"172\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/IMG_9006-Chocs-at-Grow-Chiswick-300x172.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/IMG_9006-Chocs-at-Grow-Chiswick-768x439.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/IMG_9006-Chocs-at-Grow-Chiswick-1024x585.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/IMG_9006-Chocs-at-Grow-Chiswick.jpg 1686w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4083\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">After the <a href=\"http:\/\/growchiswick.org\/\">Grow Chiswick<\/a> talk. Photo: Roy from Grow Chiswick<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rspb.org.uk\/groups\/richmond\">RSPB Twickenham<\/a> I followed what has become my habit of customizing the talk, this time obviously with some additional history of the RSPB to cover not just its foundation (in the standard talk) but its explosive growth and the factors that triggered that, not least the ospreys of Loch Garten.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4220\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4220\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/2016_03_02-Ashford-Middx-WI-ELAWN-Talk.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-4220 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/2016_03_02-Ashford-Middx-WI-ELAWN-Talk-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"The WI of Ashford, Middlesex\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4220\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewi.org.uk\/become-a-member\/structure-of-the-wi\/england\/middlesex\/about-us\">The WI of Ashford, Middlesex <\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>One of the delights of giving talks around the country is seeing some of the many people who love nature in different ways. They organize themselves into like-minded groups like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.selbornesociety.org.uk\">The Selborne Society<\/a>, meet regularly, and enjoy learning old country skills like hedging-and-ditching, or gardening, or the sight of a treeful of twittering goldfinches (not knowing what species they were), or delighting in clay animals made by primary school children. They run education events for all ages, are fascinated by fossils, or butterflies, or fungi, or almost anything else.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4362\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4362\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Ian-lecturing-at-Camley-Street.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4362\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4362\" src=\"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Ian-lecturing-at-Camley-Street-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"At London Wildlife Trust's Camley Street Natural Park, with a horse's toe-bone\" width=\"200\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Ian-lecturing-at-Camley-Street-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Ian-lecturing-at-Camley-Street-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Ian-lecturing-at-Camley-Street-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Ian-lecturing-at-Camley-Street.jpg 1958w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4362\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">At<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wildlondon.org.uk\/reserves\/camley-street-natural-park\"> London Wildlife Trust&#8217;s Camley Street Natural Park<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4295\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4295\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Ready-for-ELAWN-talk-at-Gilbert-Whites-House-Selborne.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4295\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-4295 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Ready-for-ELAWN-talk-at-Gilbert-Whites-House-Selborne-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Ready to talk at Gilbert White's House, Selborne\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4295\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ready to talk at<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gilbertwhiteshouse.org.uk\/\"> Gilbert White&#8217;s House, Selborne<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This talk is presented by Ian Alexander. It is based on the research done for the book &#8216;The English Love Affair with Nature&#8217;, and lasts one hour including time for questions. The talk covers the following topics: The love affair; the idea of nature How the nation fell in love: Gilbert White&#8217;s A Natural History &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/talks\/english-love-affair-with-nature\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Talk: The English Love Affair with Nature<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":1519,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1844","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1844"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8403,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1844\/revisions\/8403"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}