The Countryside Book

Introduction
How to use this book
Getting started

Relax
Watch the clouds
Notebook: clouds
Hare spotting
Notebook: The mythology of the hare
Search for fairy rings
Savour the seasons
Notebook: The best of the seasons
Watch the sunset
Star gazing
Notebook: Key stars and constellations in the night sky
Count magpies
Notebook: Magpies
Go gate spotting
Visit churches and churchyards

Play
The humble grass
Notebook: the importance of grass
Roll down a hill
Have fun with wild clay
Notebook: Clays in the UK
Sheep's wool and natural dyes
Notebook: Wool and wealth - how it shaped the UK and beyond
Looking at butterflies and moths
Notebook: Ten common night and day moths in the UK
Notebook: Ten common butterflies in the UK
Play with ice
Fun with flowers
Playing with stones
Let's go fly a kite
Games for walking

Be curious
Sun magic: understanding the sun
Notebook: Understanding our solar system
Wild flower spotting
Hawks and falcons
Notebook: Man and hawk
Ageing walls and hedgerows
Notebook: The history of fields
Spotting migrating birds
Notebook: Bird migration
Spiders and their diamond necklaces
Notebook: Some interesting spiders
Seek out interesting insects
Fossick for fossils
Visit standing stones
Collect some antlers

Be adventurous
Get off the beaten track
Bivouac under the stars
Try some navigation challenges
Follow ancient routes on long-distance paths
Get up high
Notebook: Skylarks
Take off your shoes
Go on an Arthurian quest

Questions
What rock am I standing on?
Where can I see Red Squirrels?
Why does a dock leaf help soothe a nettle sting?
Where do scientists get their species names from?
Which flowers do bees like?
What is the story behind Morris dancing?
Why do roads have bedns?
What's so great about cowpats?

Resources
Safety
Ticks and Lyme Disease
Useful links
Bibliography
Acknowledgements