The Book of Bogs
Although 80 per cent of Britian’s bogs and peatlands have been drained, stripped or irreversibly damaged over the last 200 years, they still contain more carbon than all the forests in UK, France and Germany combined. Often viewed as wasteland, these landscapes are brimming with biodiversity and play an essential role in how we mitigate the extremes of climate change. Walshaw Moor in West Yorkshire is one such place.
Renowned for its blanket peat bog, Walshaw Moor is a breeding habitat for endangered ground-nesting birds, such as curlews, lapwings and golden plovers. It is also the inspiration for Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and the poetry of Ted Hughes, and is much-loved for its network of footpaths threading into the Upper Calder Valley and the South Pennines. In recent years, however, the future of Walshaw Moor has been threatened by a proposal to build England’s largest onshore wind farm.
The Book of Bogs began as a community response to this threat, and has grown beyond the Moor into a wider celebration and campaign for bogs and other peatland ecologies. With original poetry and essays from over 40 established authors and new voices, the collection combines natural history, archaeology, culture, myth and adventure, offering insight into why these landscapes are at the forefront of debates about energy and land use. The book delves into the boglands like never before, relishing in the sweep of heather, the glow of moss and the stillness of peat waters.