This talk is presented by Ian Alexander. It is based on the research done for the book ‘The English Love Affair with Nature’, 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’s A Natural History of Selborne
- Thomas Bewick’s A History of British Birds
- How the nation became ready for the affair:
- From early beginnings, the mediaeval world view, natural theology, early collectors, romanticism and the industrial revolution
- A nation in love (in fifteen ways)
- From good books to art, geology, dinosaurs, explorers, collecting, conservation, birding, angling, gardening, back to nature, outdoor swimming, mountains, war, camouflage, film, sixties rebels…
- Now and the future
The talk is illustrated. It is supported by free materials here on this website; the accompanying book provides a more in-depth account.
Past talks
At RSPB Twickenham 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.
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 The Selborne Society, 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.
