The new pictures of Earth arrived, symbolically, at Easter. They have been welcomed as a renewal of the changed appreciation of the beauty of our planetary home first given us by the Apollo 8 pictures from 1968. Some hopes. For me, despite their beauty, I can’t look at these pictures without thinking of the normalisation by too much of the media and too many politicians of the US government’s outrageous betrayal of humanity by pretending not to believe the science of climate change. The US under this Republican administration should be constantly reminded of its folly. Apart from its drill baby drill nonsense, American/Israeli illegal wars are also adding hugely to carbon emissions. Because of the terrible record of this White House, Artemis II looks - despite the Easter euphoria - more like space imperialism than pure science. Retired US Army colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, interviewed on BBCR4 after Twerp’s deranged remarks about destroying a civilisation, spoke of witnessing a re-run of the corruption of the Roman Republic: he thinks the US has reached the equivalent of Caligula and Nero. The US republic is being destroyed from within.
.Photo: Heather Gordon, from Historic England website
The current Local Government magazine has articles about adapting historic buildings for housing: ‘We estimate that up to 670,000 new homes could be created by repairing or reusing historic residential or commercial property, contributing to the Government’s ambition to build 1.5 million homes. The environmental case for reuse is equally compelling: constructing a new home can generate up to 13 time more embodied carbon than refurbishing an existing one, while retrofitting can deliver operational carbon reductions of between 59 per cent and 94 per cent compared with a typical Victorian house built around 1894. The benefits of reuse extend beyond carbon and housing numbers’. That is because people like historic buildings. We desperately need the vacant, listed but deteriorating Oliver Buildings, sited at the main approach to Barnstaple, to be restored and turned into dwellings, retail and other useful spaces. This needs Historic England or government support. The gains would be major.
This is a friend’s wildflower meadow at West Putford, near Bradworthy in Northwest Devon. In the foreground are fritillaries, including the astonishing Snakeshead variety. There is also a clump of Oxlips, which might look like Primroses at first glance but are smaller and more elegant. The Bluebells beyond are somewhat invasive.
Funhouse mirror moments: No visa for Kanye West, who put out vile songs and teeshirts; welcomes at 10 Downing Street and in the House of Commons for President of Israel Isaac Herzog, who presided over genocide in Gaza (ongoing). Also, the US denounces Iran blocking the freedom of international waterways while murdering Venezuelan seamen and blockading Cuba.
No wonder people warm to the moral clarity of Zack Polanski. I was delighted to hear him interviewed on the World at One on Thursday. A little later I picked up this - Zack Polanski calls for UK to withdraw trade agreement with Israel after strikes on Lebanon: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/apr/09/zack-polanski-uk-trade-agreement-israel-lebanon-strikes?CMP=share_btn_url
These statements on Israel and on social housing seem to me common sense. The only way to fix our housing crisis is through building much more social housing. A senior planning professional I’ve discussed this with agrees. And I’ve heard a commercial house builder say that the problem with building 1.5 million homes is finding 1.5 buyers.
It is such a pleasure, e-biking into town for meetings, looking out across the hedgebanks to the Taw Valley. I focused on the old gold or deep tan patches beyond the yellow bands of Rape. Those patches must be fields of stubble. In the past few days I’ve tested water in local rivers again, for the Westcountry Rivers Trust, and observed two Red Kites above our little valley. Tall wild Mazzard trees are in blossom in a local bridleway, as is our own young Mazzard. Finally, an announcement of a poetry event with friends next month - poster below. Thank you for reading.
