Ed Douglas

England

Freelance Writer at Freelance

Mountain lover. Writer. Bath addict. Contributor to @gdncountrydiary. Represented @DGALitAgents. Trustee at https://t.co/cBQgwWwSQ6.

Articles

Country diary: A masterclass in biding your time | Ed Douglas

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Ed Douglas

Even midweek, warm spring weather brings crowds to the top of Padley Gorge. Sheffielders bask on patches of grass beside the peaty trickle of Burbage Brook. The ice‑cream van on the road above does brisk trade. Kids shriek as they splash in the water. The lack of rain has brought out fire notices: “No barbecues”; and, in a sign of the times, “No shisha”. There’s a faint smell of weed, but that’s about it on the combustibles. The world below is wholly different.
Country diary: There’s a new star in the garden – the tree bumblebee | Ed Douglas

2 months ago | theguardian.com | Ed Douglas

Through the winter I went out every day to get my fix of nature. Now, though, it’s practically breaking into the house. I need only open the bedroom curtains. Beneath me, as happens every spring, the neighbour’s cherry plum is having its moment in the spotlight. Some years, in fact most, this is a fleeting glimpse of pink that disappears in heavy rain, or even hail, but this year it has been a glorious and protracted performance.
The moorland is glittering with mad stacks of rime ice

Mar 11, 2025 | msn.com | Ed Douglas

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Country diary: The moorland is glittering with mad stacks of rime ice | Ed Douglas

Mar 11, 2025 | theguardian.com | Ed Douglas

In a sequence of grey mornings, this one was especially dismal. It was cold. The trees were dank and thick with mist, bark slick with moisture, whatever was left of last year’s foliage drooping wetly, the bracken not bronze but dun, sliming into the earth, spring’s promise unfulfilled. I dropped my chin into the collar of my jacket and started up the hill, eyes fixed on the uneven ground at my feet, marshalling enthusiasm.
In our nature-poor country, road verges are reservoirs for recovery

Feb 11, 2025 | msn.com | Ed Douglas

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Country diary: In our nature-poor country, road verges are reservoirs for recovery | Ed Douglas

Feb 11, 2025 | theguardian.com | Ed Douglas

For the first time this year, the sun had warmth in it. As I cycled through Longshaw, two-tone great tits sang more loudly and roundly. The earth hummed a little, seeming to stir itself. Up ahead on the trail, I noticed something sprouting from the cropped grass beside it, and something similar a few yards further on. What might those be, I wondered. Two small black plastic bags, as it turned out, squatting dumpily beside the path – two more offerings for the poo fairy.
The ever-changing woods give and take away

Jan 14, 2025 | msn.com | Ed Douglas

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Country diary: The ever-changing woods give and take away | Ed Douglas

Jan 14, 2025 | theguardian.com | Ed Douglas

On Boxing Day, deep in the tangled woods above Grindleford, the metal button fastening my trousers pinged off. Sifting the leaf litter, I stowed the button in my jacket pocket, where it promptly escaped again, through a hole I’d forgotten was there. The loss nagged me, so in the new year back I went. I know these woods well and was sure to recognise the distinctive tree I’d been standing under when nature took its course. Yet this was not the same place of 10 days earlier.
Country diary: A little miracle lurking in a bigger one | Country diary

Nov 12, 2024 | theguardian.com | Ed Douglas

You don’t always know when the magic starts, but there is a moment when it enters your consciousness with a flourish. Trotting down from the headwaters of the River Derwent, we found ourselves entering a narrow valley of gold and bronze, but I was still thinking about the moors we’d just left. Their scale and grandeur are breathtaking, but intense grazing over millennia has left this landscape at the end of its natural tether, wearied and sombre. Here, though, suddenly all was light.
A little miracle lurking in a bigger one

Nov 12, 2024 | msn.com | Ed Douglas

Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.