Field Notes from the Edge: Journeys Through Britain's Secret Wilderness

by Paul Evans

‘A profoundly satisfying read’ Financial TimesIn Field Notes from the Edge, the acclaimed writer of the Guardian's 'Country Diary', Paul Evans, takes us on a journey through the in-between spaces of Nature – such as strandlines, mudflats, cliff tops and caves – where one wilderness is on the verge of becoming another and all things are possible. Here, Evans searches out wildlife and plants to reveal a Nature that is inspiring yet intimidating; miraculous yet mundane; part sacred space, part wasteland. It is here that we tread the edge between a fear of Nature’s dangers and a love of Nature’s beauty.Combining a naturalist’s eye for observation with a poet’s ear for the lyrical, Field Notes from the Edge confirms Paul Evans's place among our leading nature writers today.

Genres: Nature, Natural History, Nonfiction

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 4, 2015

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Best known as the author of the Guardian’s Country Diary, Paul Evans is a naturalist, university lecturer, broadcaster of natural-history documentaries and award-winning dramas for Radio 4, and performance poet. He writes for publications including BBC Wildlife, Geographical, The National Trust Magazine and Country Living; and his work appears in many anthologies. He has had his poetry set to music by an American folk group and even been the subject of an MA at a Belgian university. He lives with his family in Much Wenlock, Shropshire where he was born.

Reviews

[Jo (The Book Geek) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be honest and admit that there may have been a little attraction to the book cover before actually looking into who Paul Evans is and what he is about, but I have no regrets here, because I believe Paul Evans knows his subject, and he teaches it well. I have left here happier, and hopefully somewhat wiser in regards to Britain's beautiful wildernesses.

I'm no expert, but I consider myself to have a strong connection to the natural world, which has only increased in the past few years. I adore wild places and being at one with nature, and I thrive when I'm not within four walls. Evans has intrigued me with his writing on our secret wildernesses and I will definitely be seeking more works from him in the future.

Evans takes us on an exciting journey to his garden, Ludlow Castle, his home town and many more. I particularly enjoyed the Ludlow Castle section. I love wandering around ancient ruins that are rich with history and this definitely got me planning my next castle visit. Evans explains that he once overheard a woman at some castle ruins complaining she wanted a refund after paying for entry to a castle, and only seeing ruins. I tittered to myself about this as I've heard it so many times. It makes one wonder why these people are there in the first place.

I enjoyed the subtle and intimate way that Evans describes nature, and the most unexpected places it can be found. Nature is everywhere, if only we could stop and open our eyes to it.

This was a beautifully written book, that I could see myself dipping into again one day, but this time, possibly in front of the fire, with a mug of coffee to hand.

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this book assuming it was another Nature Diary - and I had high hopes it would be well written as Evans is a diarist for The Guardian.
It was most definitely beautifully written but it was far, far more than a diary. Evans is a philosophising observer and what he spots on his walks - for instance a ruined cottage - sends his mind spinning in all directions. We get literature, art, myth etc all bound up in a huge love for the world around him and a tangible fear as to what we are doing with that world.
I loved his section on 'eldritch' - a word I had never come across before but won't forget now! It's that hard to describe feeling you get when you go somewhere (a forest perhaps, or an old building) and feel a sense of almost spooky unease. I'd normally say somewhere was 'creeping me out' but I can use the proper word now!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book full of unexpected nuggets of information and inspiration: in addition to the travel notes and field observations, Evans (who writes a Guardian country diary from Wenlock Edge, Shropshire) incorporates personal anecdote, folk songs, myths and scientific advances. His central idea is that we have lost our connection with nature due to fear – “ecophobia,” the opposite of which is E.O. Wilson’s “biophilia.” How do we overcome that fear? Mostly by doing just what Evans does: spending time in nature, finding beauty and developing an affinity for particular places and species.

See my full review at Nudge.

Related reading: A Buzz in the Meadow by Dave Goulson and Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane also seek to restore our sense of wonder at a natural world we dismiss as all too familiar.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone once told Paul Evans that Britain had no wilderness left. Man has eradicated all things natural from the Neolithic onwards where what is left are the estuaries, unreachable cliffs and those places in our minds eye. Evans disagrees and in this book his is taking us on a journey to the natural spaces where one borders another, to see what is left and to see what is possible. This trip will take us up ridges, over floodplains, to islands past ruins and to the strandlines where land meets sea. There he reveals nature in its rawest state, at that pinnacle between exquisite and peril.

From his home in Wenlock Edge, Evans seeks out the natural world and brings it alive with his eloquent prose. But he draws on more than that in this book; there is elements of history and culture as well as poetry and razor sharp observation. Even though I read the Guardian, I haven’t knowingly read any of his articles in there, but after this book, I will definitely be reading them now.

[Eustacia Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Personal stories are about moving from place to place, and these places can be internal as well as out there in the world.”

This is the first book that has made the jump from Pinterest to my TBR and finally to actually being read and if books could receive congratulations, I’d give it one. I occasionally browse Pinterest to look at pretty covers (perhaps it’s unsurprising that the books are mostly nature or fantasy books) but I’ve never thought of using it as a TBR source until now! Judging a book by its cover indeed…

Field Notes from the Edge is a collection from Evans as he explores the unexpectedly wild places. It’s a difficult endeavor, because as Evans says:

“Wild is a quality of Nature, a mode of existence and its life is not captured by the managerial language of biodiversity, neither is the wild a destination. Wild Nature is something words are meant to tame. Words define, order, categorise and oppress; wildness is too slippery for that, too indomitable and so it’s a fugitive from language.”

And so, Evans brings us to the unexpectedly wild places – his town and garden as flying ants migrate, a path for quarry workers, the ruins at Ludlow Castle, a little seaside town, and more. The book is both an intimate look at the unexpected places that nature can be found and a wide look at the history and science behind nature. I found the language to be beautifully fluid, as Evans moves between his observations and his research that was sparked by his observation. I was reminded of In the Land of Giants by Max Adams in the sense that both books move seamlessly between the physical location and their thoughts/history.

“Nature has such a profound effect I struggle to describe it. Language becomes inadequate and terms such as ‘sacred’ or ‘magical’ have lost their potency and can be as cliched as ‘stunning’, incredible’, or ‘fantastic’. I struggle with the intimate language I use to describe Nature, trying not to make my emotional responses appear trite or twee. Sometimes this works well, and sometimes not, and so to avoid the risk of embarrassing purple there’s a counter tendency to stand back, as a detached scientific observer or journalist might do, and recount the experience as if there were no emotional connection. This is an abdication of responsibility: bearing witness, being truthful, requires emotional honesty.”

With regards to the language, I found it to be beautiful. Like Evans says, I can see how easily the prose can be purple (or appear purple, to the reader – I think we all have different standards for what purple prose is), and since I like this book, I really admire his command of the written language. I think he manages to describe the beauty of nature without being too remote or too fanciful.

Lastly, it may not be a surprise to you that I picked up this book because the cover had cottagecore vibes to me. After reading this, I think that this is a winter cottagecore book. It sounds weird, but I can see this book being cosy only if I’m reading it in front of a roaring fire/under a kotatsu in the middle of winter, experiencing the thrill of nature while already feeling very cosy.

[Grace-Elisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some fascinating facts and beautiful prose, however, it did feel as if I was reading a series of essays and my interest ebbed and flowed with the subject matter. I feel a little mean just giving it 3* but I don't feel I can give it more as I found myself bogged down in some areas and ended up skimming paragraphs.

[Ginna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping this was going to be observations from the edge of a field, but alas it was mostly melancholic musings on the liminal...

[Sophy H · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars

I had to slog through parts of this before skim reading other sections. For a light subject the writing was actually quite dense and at times repetitive.

I also felt like I'd encountered this subject matter before one too many times. There are countless nature journal books out there, and if the writing isn't stellar or standout then mediocre writing such as this just gets lost in the pile.

Not a memorable book by any means and not one I'd return to. Thankfully this was a library loan.

[Erica Basnicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nope. Just nope. Possibly brilliant if you love the genre, but the writing is long-winded, stilted, and dense. Awkwardly long sentences, overly-precious vocabulary (some of which can’t even be found in the Oxford dictionary) and an absolute chore to read. A smattering of beautiful thought/prose cannot save this book from the donation pile.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Living on Wenlock Edge, he observes the inter-dependance of plants, birds, animals, fungi etc. Interesting facts and evocative descriptions.

[Ginni · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slow read, but in a good way. Indeed, this is ‘field notes’, and also contains fascinating and sometimes disturbing scientific facts - the section on stoats and nematodes had me totally gripped in a rather unsettling way. However it is also beautifully written in lyrical prose, drawing in many other disciplines aside from biology and ecology. Evans is a philosopher of the natural world. My only objection is that he sometimes overuses rather obscure words, for example ‘liminal’. This was especially annoying as I’m still unclear as to its meaning, even after looking it up!

[Anneliese Tirry · Rating 4 out of 5]

****(*)
Dit is een prachtig boek gevuld met korte, poëtische observaties over de natuur, en over hoe alles in de natuur verbonden is, met ons, met het verleden en met de toekomst en hoe dat het ware wonder is. Prachtig vond ik het.
Ik hou van de eenvoud en de eerbied en ontzag voor de natuur in deze stukjes, over hoe we de natuur proberen te beteugelen, maar hoe die natuur steeds een eigen weg zoekt.
Van de mier, over de bacterie, tot de schimmel, ... ik heb enorm veel bijgeleerd eigenlijk.

[Denni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm avoiding this whole stars thing mostly but this is such a wonderful book, so beautifully written, so full of information and loveliness that I had to give it 5. Highly recommended. And yes, everything is taking me ages to read for lots of reasons (not least that I have far too many books on the go at the moment--not usual for me).

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series of essays meditating on the idea of wildness and wilderness from a British writer. I enjoyed these tremendously, though they did not hold together as a whole. Wonderful for the vocabulary alone.

[Klara Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book.

[George Barnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extended meditation in the style of the Guardian’s Country Diary. Some wonderful sections I’ll be returning to again and again.