London Welsh are now two promotions away from the Championship, where they were in 2017 when the RFU decided to boot them out as a result of the huge financial issues caused by their ruinous Premiership excursions between 2012–15. They started from the very bottom of the pyramid. Amazing stuff.

The Chalk Stream Recovery Pack is a DEFRA document outlining the policy roadmap to protect and restore England’s unique chalk streams. It exists. It was set for publication in 2023. The government shelved it. Now there is a petition to publish it: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/71... Sign up 💙

Thanks to RevIvel for an informative tour of the Ivel Springs this week. One key takeaway: It's vital that excessive water abstraction from chalk stream source aquifers is reduced, to restore natural waterflow. Healthy, flowing watercourses are critical for our wildlife, and indeed for ourselves.

It was great to have you out with us. Thank you! We have provided affinity water with a workable and sustainable solution. But they will want to kick the can down the road for decades. Help us to get this timescale accelerated and adopted as a chalk streams first pilot. 6 chalk streams will benefit

Hello BlueSkyers

A lovely early winter dog walk in North Herts this morning. @northessexnotes.bsky.social @bbcweather.bsky.social

Opinions Wanted! So . . . . just supposing . . . . we were maybe going to get some Real Seeds Tote Bags made up, ideal for bringing your veg home in, which colours should we go for??? Four options here, would you prefer: Tasteful Orange? Calming Teal? Victorian Greens? Psychadelic?

You can read the full letter here: bit.ly/CHMPOpenreach

Hi everyone. New on Blue Sky. We are a passionate group fighting to get flow back in the upper Ivel (chalk stream). Keen to link up with other like minded people to keep the pressure up on Steve Reed / Labour to deliver on pre election promises. Start by overturning awful CS recovery plan decision.

A busy mind this eve after the Dept of Geography’s screening of Tony Eva’s film, Pure Clean Water purecleanwater.film, on the Cambridge chalk stream crisis. I learnt a lot (cried a bit) & found a little hope. These precious Cambridge waterways hold many memories. Thank you @cambsclimate.bsky.social

A lump of chalk on a frosty morning demonstrating its ability to store water. Unfortunately Affinity Water currently take 53% of all available water from the upper Ivel catchment, up to 14 million litres per day! @beneath-b-waters.bsky.social @stormwater-jo.bsky.social @welshriversunion.bsky.social

Not a multicoloured toothbrush, but another of our UK moth caterpillars, the Vapourer.

The continued destruction of wildlife-rich habitat in east Suffolk, much in the AONB, by Sizewell C ahead of a final investment decision supported by #UKLabour all funded by UK taxpayers, shows #Labour's total disregard of UK's #biodiversity crisis Heart-breaking #SayNo2SizewellC

Bye to the high Hi to the low...and some much colder weather Turning more unsettled with some rain, snow and ice over the next 7 days, with colder air gradually digging down from the north

The first taste of some colder weather arriving from the north this weekend

#Brexit “the Petri dish for Trump” “#Brexit hasn't brought any tangible benefit and there is no future prospect of any, the UK has changed its mind and that this should be recognised.” petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...

A taste of winter incoming.. www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/new...

Imagine meeting someone who was alive when Stonehenge & the pyramids of Egypt were built 5,000 years ago Daft yes? Well what about a tree that was alive then, and still is The Great Basin Bristlecone Pines of California Photo: Rick Goldwaser

"Heading into the Autumnal months, heavy downpours and prolonged periods of rain can be expected to overwhelm the UK’s drainage infrastructure". A reminder: in the 6 months ended 30/09/23, Anglian Water revenue went up £66.6m (+8.8%) to £827.5m... www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-n...

Anglian Water. Again... See my post yesterday for exactly how much money they're raking in from customers, whilst defiling our waterways in return... 😡 (Apologies for quoting the Daily Express. I wouldn't normally go near it, but this is important). www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1956...

go.bsky.app/KaDADYV Rivers and water quality starter pack. Comment below if you think you or someone else should be part of this group. I will add you.

Report in @ealingnews.bsky.social on the 5 housing developments discharging sewage straight into the River Brent. ealing.news/environment/...

WE DID IT!

Hello—introductions seem in order in this cordial new space. 👋 I’m Robert Macfarlane; I write books, films & music about the infinitely complex & fascinating terrain where nature, landscape, language & imagination entangle. These are some of my books—& Is A River Alive? (just finished, out May 1st.)

Autumn in Cambridge keeps getting better and better!

Watching a Starling Roost - put it on your winter bucket list. Even if the Starlings don't actually murmur, an evening out watching the birds coming in to roost is an awe inspiring experience. #birds #wildlife #starlings #murmurations

go.bsky.app/KaDADYV Pulling together a UK rivers and water quality starter pack. Who should be in it? Who is missing? Comment below and I will get them added.

Hello @bsky.app folk and everyone else. New here! But we've been around for a long long time. 90 years in fact! We're a #charity dedicated to protecting #LakeDistrict and Cumbrian landscapes like this one. (Photo by John Macfarlane)

1st post here: a note of hope? “Daylighting" is the work of bringing buried rivers back to the surface & sun, in cities where they've been entombed. Here’s @emilyraboteau.bsky.social on a $133m daylighting project in the Bronx. Here’s to doing things differently. pioneerworks.org/broadcast/da...