This is a month-by-month guide to which birds to watch and when. The book illustrates the species most fascinating to observe in each month of the year, their behaviour and habitats. Illustrations accompany the descriptions of key birds to watch in Britain's varied habitats, from mountains and moorlands to woodlands and fields, lakes and rivers to cliffs and estuaries. A special "bird of the month" is featured in each chapter as well as key events in the birdwatcher's year such as moulting and migration.

A beautifully illustrated guide to the wide variety of species found in rivers, streams, lakes and ponds in Britain and Europe. Covering northern Europe, including the mainly freshwater environment of the Baltic Sea, 'Pocket Guide Freshwater Life' describes and illustrates over 900 species of plant and animal visible with the naked eye, from damsels and dragonflies to beetles and molluscs. This is the ideal freshwater companion, the most comprehensive pocket guide to the subject. It also makes a superb companion volume to 'Pocket Guide Sea Shore'. An easy-to-use key guides the user quickly to the correct species without using complex terminology. Each species is illustrated in colour with the relevant text on the facing page for quick and accurate identification. Artists include: * Denys Ovenden * Carol Roberts * Jonathan Latimer * Tony Disley * Felicity Cole

Around twenty-five miles north-east of the county town of Lancaster, nearly 550 metres above sea level, a tiny spring arises under the shadow of the famous Three Peaks. This is the source of the river Ribble. Along with tributaries of immense variety and interest - the Hodder, the Calder and the Douglas - the Ribble flows through some of the most beautiful and historically important landscapes in the country, finally to meet the sea twenty miles west of Preston. Anciently the Ribble formed a political boundary between north and south, as well as an important routeway from east to west; and today it still marks a stark contrast between rural countryside to the north and industrial landscapes to the south.In this unique and important new book, Malcolm Greenhalgh combines local history - Iron Age hillforts, Roman camps, monastic farms, ancient crosses in churchyards, farming practices and land use - with a comprehensive and authoritative account of the area's wildlife and how it has changed over time. The result is a book which explains, with rare clarity and insight, how the countryside we know and love came to be as it is today, as well as how human intervention has moulded many disparate landscapes in different ways over the centuries, right up to the present day.

A brilliant new book especially for the gardeners of the North West! Full of Grow Your Own (GYO) information and tips for growers across the old county of Lancashire, covering everything, including ...soil & sun plants & pests tubs & trenches fertilisers & failures weeds & watering seasons & sogginess equipment & ecology triumphs & tastiness ...and much more! The first Grow Your Own book to help North West gardeners grow successfully in the specific soils & climate What grows well in the gardens of the south and middle of England will not necessarily grow well up here Aimed at all ages and abilities Suggests ways of growing organically, & how to include children & grandchildren For growing spaces of all shapes & sizes, including, yards, pots and window sills. Includes some newly rediscovered old Lancashire varieties of fruits & veg Also includes recipes & ideas to maximise usefulness & enjoyment

From the world's largest tripe factory to the Battle of Wigan Lane; from the Peterloo massacre to the first British canal - Lancashire can claim it all.