It's a warm summer day and I've stopped to eat my lunch on the Union Canal towpath near Falkirk. A bough of dog rose is nodding above my head and I'm surrounded by a cloud of cow parsley and violet-blue cranesbill, with speedwell and buttercups at my feet. Small moths flit through the grasses, the air is thrumming with the sound of bees, and a thrush is providing musical entertainment.
Yet I'm in an urban setting: 70% of Scotland's population lives within 30 miles of where I'm sitting. Not 100 yards in front of me, invisible beyond the tall hedgerow on the opposite side of the canal, is a new-build housing estate, and lying a mile or so behind my back is the smoking, sprawling industrial site of Grangemouth Refinery.
My journey started on a damp morning in June, when I set out from Helensburgh to walk the John Muir Way. Inaugurated in 2014, this long-distance walking and cycling route stretches 134 miles across Scotland's central belt. Running from Helensburgh in the west through to Dunbar on the east coast, it's named in honour of the pioneer conservationist who was born in Dunbar in 1838 but emigrated to North America as a boy.
Denne historien er fra June 2022-utgaven av BBC Countryfile Magazine.
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Denne historien er fra June 2022-utgaven av BBC Countryfile Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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We Are an Island Nation - So Let's Protect Our Seas - Living in the UK makes us islanders and personally I'm proud of that definition - not in any political or jingoistic sense, but simply because I love the sea and in this country we are totally surrounded by it.
Living in the UK makes us islanders and personally I'm proud of that definition - not in any political or jingoistic sense, but simply because I love the sea and in this country we are totally surrounded by it. We live inside thousands of miles of coastline, in a nation whose borders were created by nature and made us what we are.
Discover Jurassic Coast - With its towering cliffs, sweeping beaches and pretty seaside towns, the shoreline of Dorset and east Devon is spectacular.
With its towering cliffs, sweeping beaches and pretty seaside towns, the shoreline of Dorset and east Devon is spectacular. Jo Caird fossicks for fossils and dramatic rock formations. It's an auspicious start to my journey along the Jurassic Coast. This 95-mile stretch of shore mostly in Dorset, but nudging just into east Devon - is blessed with awe-inspiring geological formations and fossil deposits that have garnered it recognition as England's only natural UNESCO World Heritage Site. Snaking east from Orcombe Point near Exmouth to Old Harry Rocks near Swanage, it's studded with monumental rock arches, seemingly endless shingle beaches and fossil beds from which treasures were prised that altered our understanding of prehistory.
Viking shores
We picture Vikings marauding coastal settlements, looting and raiding. But what was life really like in the Viking Age? Historian Eleanor Barraclough reveals what the ancient artefacts found on Britain's shores tell us about our formidable forebears
Sea horses
On Cornwall's coastal clifftops, Melanie O'Shea meets the hardy grazing ponies that are helping to restore the land, so nature can flourish once more
A wing and a prayer
From their desks at Boulmer, 1,000 RAF personnel watch the skies for airborne threats to the country. Yet beyond the concrete of the base, vulnerable birdlife flourishes - thanks to the hard work of a small team
Cast in bone
Cuttlefish bones washed up on our shores have been used to make jewellery since ancient times. Jo Caird meets a craftswoman who's keeping the art alive on the Kent coast
EDIBLE SEAWEEDS
An ancient food harvested by humans for millennia, seaweeds bring an intense and rich flavour of the sea to a wide range of dishes, as well as essential mind-and-body-boosting nutrients
Spines and sulky faces
Watch where you put your feet at the beach - a weever fish could be lurking
Sea stars
The playful performances of Britain's bottlenose dolphins attract avid fans - but they deserve personal space
Harris's wildly beautiful beach
Cornwall may pull in the crowds, but one Hebridean strand stuns visitors
