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Palden
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The Somerset LevelsWetlands west of GlastonburyPhotos by Palden Jenkins, May 2006 |
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The Somerset Levels are the diametric opposite to a desert. It's an enormous organic compost heap. And home and a stopover literally to millions of birds - as well as otters and nowadays even wild boar.
A large proportion of the 'moors' are dedicated to beef grazing, but large sections are nature reserves. Here lies a rather fortuitous relationship between industry - peat has been industrially extracted here for a century - and nature conservation. The holes created by peat-mining leave lakes for the birds. Re-growth of reeds and new peat is surprisingly fast - this whole soggy area seethes with bio-organic activity - rotting. Yet here lies the source of life. The Somerset Levels, just west of my hometown of Glastonbury, are wonderful for cycling. It is the home of swans, herons, geese, coots, ducks and, in winter, 1½ million Russian starlings. Sometimes, a bike-ride on the levels can be ornithologically very eventful. |
Palden Jenkins
01458-834576 (*44-1458-834576) |