Working with words

Hidden stories of rhubarb

Blog article for the POP shop in Dunoon.

Is it the sweet and sticky rhubarb crumble served with lashings of thick and gooey custard? Crunching on freshly picked rhubarb stalks dipped in sugar? Or maybe it is savouring sugar-dusted rhubarb and custard boiled sweeties from a paper bag? What is your earliest memory of tasting rhubarb?

Eating fresh rhubarb on a warm summer day is a childhood memory shared by many of us lucky enough to have a grandparent, parent or neighbour with a rhubarb patch. Rhubarb is a staple flavour of the British palate and one of the iconic flavours of our Dunoon Goes POP soft drinks.

5 reasons we're tackling Rhododendron ponticum

Blog article editing for Argyll Countryside Trust, involving asking team experts for their perspectives and crafting it into an article. 

Extract: Bog and other peatland habitats are particularly susceptible to invasion by Rhododendron ponticum because it can take root in slightly drier areas or in tiny patches of exposed peat, often disused peat banks or on the dry edges of drains. Rhododendron, once it takes hold, starts a cycle of further drying out the bog. 

Ecologist Diane Lyons career story

An article for the Environment Job blog

Extract: Diane spots a long-tailed tit watching us along the trail and stops suddenly. “Peesh, peesh, peeshhhhhh,” she projects towards the tiny bird, repeating the sound with a confident rhythm. I’m completely fascinated by what’s happening. The long-tailed tit, which is normally a very shy bird, is bouncing from branch to branch among the hawthorn and birch trees. I can see the beginning of tiny buds – the hawthorns are coming into leaf. The tiny long-tailed bird is clear and brave ahead of us, showing himself as a distraction. It’s breeding season, and he is protecting his nearby nest by drawing our attention away from it. It’s working – we are entranced by this gorgeous bird.

The cost of the cuts 

Research beacons article for the University of Glasgow. 

When the global financial crisis hit in 2008 and cuts in UK public spending were announced, University of Glasgow researchers sought to look at the real cost of austerity. Who was going to be more or less impacted by these cuts? How could this be mitigated to avoid having a disproportionately negative impact on poorer communities?

“We’ve got a long history of doing research which is grounded in evidence, which is theoretically informed, but which is about trying to make a difference,” Professor Hastings explains. “That’s the culture of our team. That’s what gets people into their work on a day-to-day basis.”

Five Easy Steps to Sustainable Gardening 

A blog article aimed at gardeners around Argyll, from my Papaver Gardening blog.

Leaving a few piles of leaves in discreet spots around your garden will create habitats for wildlife. Leaf piles or little pockets of leaves give creatures like spiders, frogs and ladybirds somewhere to rest over winter. By leaving leaves, you are encouraging a healthy garden ecosystem – many of these creatures will enjoy feasting on other garden residents, like slugs and greenfly, the following summer.

Honey underground

Non-fiction essay, 2021

Extract: We didn’t come here to plant spot. We came for the walk along Portencross beach on the Ayrshire coast, and for the views across the Firth of Clyde to the Isles of Arran and Cumbrae. I’m a little off

balance, crouching in a nook between the footpath and the sea. A family walk by with their collie puppy off the lead and clipping at their heels. Three teenage girls are out on the red sandstone rocks, psyching each other up for a swim. A buzzard floats overhead, soundless and comfortable in the breeze. Even the gulls aren’t making much noise. I’m tucked down and stroking a leaf growing among the grasses. It’s sharper on the edges than I thought it would be, but the skin, with its fine silvery hairs, is almost silky to touch. It’s my first time at Portencross beach, and it’s my first time seeing silverweed in the flesh.

Travelling Home

A personal essay

Extract: It’s August, but there’s a bite to the breeze that I had almost forgotten about. An oil rig support vessel runs parallel to the shore and appears to be floating on the horizon. A solitary surfer sits on his board, waiting on a bobbing sea for the next swell. We walk along Aberdeen beach, the North Sea chills the soles of our boots, and I am transported back to a time as a child when my sister and me swam in these waters, chattering teeth and a youthful bravery pulling us on. Surfers, coated in thick wetsuits, park their campers and vans along the beachfront. They sit out the back of the vans, sipping coffees, watching for the surf. The sky is as grey as the sea, but nobody cares.