In the spring, we yearn for the first sight of the returning swallow and the sound of the cuckoo to confirm the end of the long winter, but at this time of year, it's the arrival of the fieldfare, with its grey head and chestnut back, that excites us in the countryside. It's the herald of winter and a very pretty one, too. Roughly a million migrate to Britain each year, delighting us with their toughness and purpose. Luckily, a few hundred have taken up residence in our valley, enjoying the open countryside and the windfalls from this year's huge crop of apples.
Unlike other members of the thrush family, it wouldn't win any awards for its song, which is both tough and harsh and has something of the magpie in it-in many parts of Britain, it's known as the screech bird-but their sociability as they stretch across a frozen field searching for food, always facing in the same direction, is utterly beguiling. They help the winter pass. As ever, the poet John Clare sums them up:
Flocking fieldfares, speckled like the thrush Picking the red haw from the sweeping bush That come and go on winter's chilling wing, And seem to share no sympathy with Spring
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You can’t always rely on the Great British summer — but you can rely on its watchesBritish watchmakers have excelled themselves in recent months — releasing bright and beautiful timepieces that you'll want on your wrist through summer, and beyond.
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Simon Jenkins: 50 years of saving Britain's buildings, from triumphs and disasters to the great country house we bought for £1In 1975, a new organisation was set up with the express aim of saving Britain's most beautiful and historic buildings from the wrecking ball. How has SAVE fared in the 50 years since then far? Simon Jenkins — who was involved as a trustee right from the very start — looks back on half a century of successes... and one or two painful failures.
