FACTCHECK: Why expensive gas – not net-zero – is keeping UK electricity prices so high Many seem determined to obfuscate the very obvious reason why UK power is still so pricey. Molly Lempriere and I set out the facts + options to cut bills. www.carbonbrief.org/... 1/10

In 3 months, bluefin tuna will be migrating back into our waters, where they'll be met with a fleet of commercial and recreational* fishers. It's a horrible way to welcome these magnificent, charismatic creatures. Let's try to get this to 250,000 before they arrive. www.change.org/p/protect-bl...

Late again……One from a while ago for #worldbeeday

A bit of Shaftesbury sketching featuring, on walking stick, Dapper Dan. I don’t know him but he’s a well dressed dude I spotted on Shaftesbury High Street one day. Thought he deserved including in a scribble. . #urbansketches #dorsetlife #sketchbookartist #sketchingpeople

Trees, trees, trees……great to be part of @the_arborealists 40th exhibition @sculpturebythelakes The show is open until 19 April. All the work can be seen online at sculpturebythelakes.co.uk

Good move for nature - UK govt says all England's deep peat (over 30cm deep) will be protected from burning Used to encourage game birds through new plant growth, burning of peatland can turn carbon sink into carbon source, and is damaging for other wildlife www.theguardian.com/environment/...

We took over the giant screen at Farage’s big rally in Birmingham

I took this photo less than 10 years after the deer fence behind was erected. Before it went up, the land behind was just grass, exactly like the foreground where he sheep are. *Nothing* was planted here. "It's not rocket science" is an understatement. 🌍

Trees, trees, trees……Really looking forward to being part of @the_arborealists 40th exhibition @sculpturebythelakes The show opens on 22 March. All the work on show is available online at sculpturebythelakes.co.uk

Delighted to reveal the hard-hitting paperback cover for my book, THE LIE OF THE LAND - an exposé of what the 'custodians of the countryside' have done to nature in Britain. The paperback's out 8th May - order yours here: lnkfi.re/JhxHno More upcoming talks here & details below: lnkfi.re/PkfOhd 🧵

Back Mills, Montreuil-sur-Mer by Frits Thaulow 1892 Oil on Canvas (Private Collection)

‘Straight above the spring’ ink, watercolour and charcoal . The stand of beech trees that marks the spot where the River Stour stays its journey to the sea. . #watercolour

The most unpatriotic members of any society are the far right. They will always align with foreign interests against the interests of their own nations. They will always undermine national institutions and national values in pursuit of their own interests. When they pose as patriots, they lie.

Liz Truss called solar farms a “blight on the landscape”, but researchers have found they are actually better for birds than farmland Solar farms in East Anglia had greater bird diversity & bird abundance than nearby arable land, a study finds Paper here later www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

‘Sun above the source’ ink, watercolour and charcoal on canvas . This is where the River Stour oozes from the ground and begins its 61 mile journey to the sea at Mudeford #watercolour

Reposting, because it's so important that people know about this... #neonicotinoids #cats #dogs #birds #pesticides

We can easily spare a tenth of England for nature without affecting food production! 20% of our land produces just 3% of our food. Vast swathes of our uplands are owned by about 150 wealthy landowners who use it for shooting grouse, and set fire to our biggest carbon sink, our peat bogs...

Proud to have this piece selected for the SGFA annual open exhibition at The Mall Galleries 10-14 March #sketchbook

Mist in the valley at sunrise as I pass a favourite pot-bellied old oak on Gascoigne’s Lane #watercolour #painting

The wholesale extermination of predators on grouse moors needs to stop. Please consider signing this petition in order to speed things up. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...

It's 2025 for god's sake. When are these shameful, Victorian attitudes going to change? This latest victim was one of the reintroduced eagles. All that effort, for this. #wildlifecrime #raptorresearch #ornithology raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/01/16/w...

Sketching by the river……spent a great day exploring the River Rother in Sussex doing preparatory drawings for an upcoming exhibition #watercolour #pleinair

Snow on the old drover’s track. This cobbled road was the main route farmers used to walk their cattle up to market. #watercolour #painting

‘Mist in the beech wood’ ink, watercolour and charcoal . Low sun, foggy morning and rotting leaves. I do love the winter. #watercolour

Happy new year, everyone. I’ve not been on here much lately so allow me to introduce myself again, I’m Lee and I like to paint abandoned, isolated buildings in familiar yet otherworldly settings.

Snow on the Track - by Dorset artist, Gary Cook @cookthepainter.bsky.social More of this artist's fabulous trees, and landscapes, here: cookthepainter.com/latest-work #trees #landscapes #snow #winter #art

Work in progress……must order some more black ink…… . #watercolour #painting

I’m really honoured to be part of this RI film calling for entries to their annual exhibition at Mall Galleries opening on the 25 March. Online submissions are open at mallgalleries.org.uk until 28 January . #watercolourpainting #paintings

Tuesday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the *lowest* on record (JAXA data) • about 780,000 km² below the 2010s mean • about 1,270,000 km² below the 2000s mean • about 1,840,000 km² below the 1990s mean • about 2,330,000 km² below the 1980s mean Plots zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...

‘Winter snowfields’ ink, watercolour and charcoal . Freezing conditions in the Lake District last year. This view is near the point where we had to abandon our car as we were driving (well, sliding) into Windermere #watercolourartist #sketchbook #snowpainting #watercolour #drawingartist

Work in progress…… Using the trusty flooreasel #watercolour #painting

New Uk artist starter pack Message to be added go.bsky.app/HsV6y98

2013: Wind power couldn't "pull the skin off a rice pudding" according to Boris Johnson. 2024: "Wind generation has exceeded gas generation for three consecutive quarters." Government stats out today: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66f423...

‘Winter lane’ ink, watercolour and charcoal Sun setting as we walk down a snow covered lane from a temperate rainforest in Windermere. Temperate rainforests in the UK are ultra-rare and cover less than 1% of the country. 2,300 different species of bats to fungi are dependent in some way on oak

As another #farmersprotest takes place today in London, I thought it would be useful to create a "damage to UK farming" timeline, from 2016 to 2024: 2016 Tories Boris Johnson & Michael Gove win the Brexit referendum, meaning UK will leave the Common Agricultural Policy. No farmer protests. 1/9

‘French Mill Lane oaks’ ink & watercolour Passing the newly TPO'd oaks as low sun cuts through the mist in the valley. These 70 year-old oaks had red dots sprayed on them for felling. Thankfully Tree Preservation Orders were put on. Imagine how different the lane would look without them

‘Light lines’ oil and charcoal on canvas From a frosty walk on the Roman road in Eartham Woods on the South Downs www.cookthepainter.com/latest-work/... #painting

Dead wood and the circle of life (by Jeroen Helmer)

A page from the sketchbook. Some fancy gates and coffee. Now part of ‘Travels with The Woodlanders’ www.cookthepainter.com/latest-work/... #sketchbook

2 hours in the studio this morning. Decided to stop and go home for lunch before the inevitable fiddling started. Watercolour, 38x42cms. Currently untitled.

Sonerset rhyne, monoprint sketch started at Graylake on Tuesday

We absolutely adore this painting. If you know French Mill Lane you know exactly this spot. And if you don’t, you just want to wander down to find it 😍

Careful now…… ‘French Mill Lane oaks’ ink, watercolour and charcoal Walking past the young oaks on the lane just above French Mill. On show now at the lovely @foldedorset.bsky.social #watercolour

‘Walk up to town’ ink, watercolour and charcoal A late winter view of the walk up to town. Come June and July we spot glow-worms displaying in the bank on the right during the walk back home from the pub on warm evenings . #watercolourartist #sketchbook #pleinairartist

'Petworth Oak' and 'Reflecting Giant' - both by #Dorset artist Gary Cook @cookthepainter.bsky.social - who's atmospheric paintings of trees and landscapes I absolutely love! 💚 More of Gary's work, here: www.cookthepainter.com/latest-work #trees #landscapes #art #treeart

Come on Beeb keep up. Wild Year North Yorks Moor was so biased. Just because they let you film them burning peat moor doesn’t make it right. 2.4m tons of carbon released annually through burning. Grouse Shooting PR Ltd must have loved it @bbcnews-uk-rss.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

What a magical winter painting! Please follow Dorset artist @cookthepainter.bsky.social Gary Cook - who knows a thing or two about painting trees - for more such beauty ❄️ #trees #winter #snow #watercolour #art #LakeDistrict

My duckweed time vampire #pondlife

If you bring central London to a halt in order to campaign against catastrophic climate change then you're a "barmy" eco "fanatic" who deserves to be locked up. If you do the same to hang on to your multimillion pound inheritance tax exemption then you're a brave freedom fighter defying the odds

Flaming arrogance…I witnessed this depressing sight in Yorkshire. Highlighted in @guyshrubsole.bsky.social brilliant book The Lie of The Land, research shows burning peat is one of the worst things for the environment. 2.4m tons are released by burning by landowners www.cookthepainter.com/ramblings