Book review: ‘The Unofficial Countryside’ by Richard Mabey

The Unofficial Countryside

This reissue of a Mabey classic celebrates how nature can be found thriving in the margins of man-made environments: sewage works, drainage ditches, deserted 'brown field' sites, pretty much anywhere.

It's a heartening antidote to the usual doom and gloom about how the natural world is being wiped out by the excesses of Homo sapiens. Given half a chance, nature will exploit any new niche we unintentionally create for it.

The book certainly rang bells for me. Most days at work, I take a lunch-break in Liverpool's dockland, which contains numerous, unofficial wild patches. It might not be the first place you would think of to go looking for nature, but, in the heart of a city, beggars can't be choosers. And I more often than not spot something or other to excite my interest.

Note: I will receive a small referral fee if you buy this book via one of the above links.

Richard Carter

A fat, bearded chap with a Charles Darwin fixation.

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