Last week I spent some time in the Peak District. It was a new experience for me and now I see what everyone else sees there, amazing scenery, wonderful stately homes, history in abundance and last week especially, glorious weather. I am a Derbyshire convert, now I know how Elizabeth Bennet felt when she saw Darcy’s home and its setting in Pride and Prejudice. Do go if you get the chance and order the weather in advance!

Denny Bradbury

The latest exhibition has confirmed me as a fan of David Hockney. For many years I just didn’t ‘get it’. Then in a moment of enlightenment a few years ago at the summer exhibition I was mesmerised by his large tree canvass. It drew me in and took me to another level. With this in mind I just had to see the latest offerings, trailed so comprehensively in Countryfile.  I was not disappointed. Perhaps the one comment I might make was in the room set aside for the works completed on the i-pad. It was just not big enough to give the works’ sense of scale.  However, that said, I begin to see what he is offering.  I remain a novice but happy to have discovered my own sense of wonder through his interpretations.

Denny Bradbury

Belonging, as I do, to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust is my small way of trying to redress the effect of human interference on the balance of nature. I believe in the work also of the Woodland Trust. It is these two areas that I consider to be vital to the survival of the planet. This couplet came to me as I walked my lovely dog through the Buckinghamshire countryside:

‘To save the planet we need bees and trees; Our survival depends on both of these.’ More a mantra than a poem.

I went on to write a longer poem but this is not the space for pessimism, rather hope that the mantra above may find its way into the public consciousness and take root.

Once I sent 2 of my environmental poems to HRH The Prince o Wales. His letter to me was encouraging as he considered my poetry ‘thoughtful’. I have the letter still as it is nice to know that, at least in this, I have similar aims as the heir to the throne.

Denny Bradbury

Many of my friends and family seem to suffer from the ‘February Blues’. The (hopefully) happy times of Christmas and New Year are behind us and the spring, let alone the summer holiday season, is so far in the distance that we  wallow in the gloom of the early months of the year. Nature is full of times that allow us to sit and reflect.

If the year has only happy sunny days then we would cease to rejoice in them. We need gloom and darkness that lets us just ‘be’. Renewing our energy for the days when it is essential to go and walk in the sunshine embracing the bounty that is spring. To all who suffer, take heart, know that you are not alone, Nature needs to be quiet at times too to renew her energy. We will have patience.

Best wishes, Denny Bradbury