Exaltation ascending

James Chubb is a naturalist, writer and broadcaster currently working as a Nature Reserves Manager for East Devon

- James Chubb

Ralph Vaughan Williams’ perennial favourite of the Classic FM Top 100 classic pieces, The Lark Ascending, has long been cherished by the British public as a quintessentially bucolic English musical composition.

Ralph is currently sat at number three in the poll, bumped by Beethoven and Rachmaninoff, but will take some solace from being at number three and four in the rankings too.

But away from soaring violins and accompanying orchestra, which does so much to conjure up the spirit of the skylark, what about the bird itself?

March is a great time of year to get out into the Devon countryside and experience a lofty cacophony of song which is every bit the equal to its orchestrated namesake. A bird of wide open expanses and grassland; 50 years ago skylarks were common across much of the county.