A journey through one of Italy’s best-kept secrets- the region of Puglia.
Puglia, a southern region forming the heel of Italy’s “boot,” is known for its whitewashed hill towns, centuries-old farmland and hundreds of kilometers of Mediterranean coastline. Capital Bari is a vibrant port and university town, while Lecce is known as “Florence of the South” for its baroque architecture. Alberobello and the Itria Valley are home to “trulli,” stone huts with distinctive conical roofs.
Scotland’s #TreeOfTheYear 2020 – The Survivor Tree, Carrifran Valley.
It was once a lone rowan clinging to a stream bank in Carrifran Valley, but today that survivor tree is lonely no more! It is surrounded by a little forest of its children, and lots of suckers are coming up from its base. This was some of the first natural regeneration the Borders Forest Trust achieved in the Carrifran Valley. In addition to its own children, the rowan tree now has over half a million other native Scottish trees for company. Where once it dominated the view, it will soon be hidden from sight. The rowan tree no longer stands alone and is a symbol of the 20-year journey to revive the wild heart of Southern Scotland.
Wales’ #TreeOfTheYear 2020 – The Chapter House Tree, Margam Park, Port Talbot.
Standing in the shadows of 17th century Margam Orangery and St Mary’s Church, this historic fern-leaved beech envelopes the remains of one of the first Cistercian abbeys in Wales. Its canopy has provided shelter to visitors for many years – from Victorian tea parties taking place under its sweeping boughs to a favourite summer picnic spot for present day visitors. The tree provides an atmospheric back drop and is loved by cinematographers – featuring in TV and Film productions from Dr Who and ‘Songs of Praise’ with Sir Bryn Terfel to the recent Netflix blockbuster series ‘Sex Education’.
England’s #TreeOfTheYear 2020 – The Happy Man Tree, Hackney, London. Currently earmarked for felling, the plight of this 150 year old Plane has awakened something in a community that couldn’t bear to see it go. The dressing of the tree, and the signs behind it, are testament to the strength of feeling among the local campaigning. As an urban tree, it makes an important contribution to combating air pollution and making grey city streets green. But the community sees it as more than just the sum of it’s parts – it’s part of the estate, part of their collective history.
Bodnant Garden’s secluded corners, leafy glades and famous Laburnum Arch made it a magical setting for the new movie adaptation of The Secret Garden, a Sky Original, in cinemas and on Sky Cinema 23 October. While the site in Conwy, Wales, is currently only open to local residents because of lockdown restrictions, you can join us on a video tour to visit the filming locations, an arboretum bursting with autumn colour, unmissable views, and much more.
Photographs and Text by Christopher Miller for The New York Times – October 19, 2020
As Bjorn and I push through thickets of devil’s club and trundle over chest-high nurse logs, the trees seem to grow before our eyes. The forest stands as a witness to the passage of time, and a nearby stream as a lifeline to the past.
The saplings at the confluence of the stream mark the present, while the giant spruce and hemlock at its source likely predate the European colonization of the Americas — so that the only humans who could have witnessed the birth of this stand of trees are the area’s Tlingit and Haida peoples.
It’s late April 2019, and my traveling companion, Bjorn Dihle, and I are on a four-day, 30-mile excursion through the heart of Prince of Wales Island along the Honker Divide Canoe Route, the island’s longest trail. We have forgone the canoes and opted for packrafts due to their size and weight; they’re easier to schlep over logs and across the many short portages.
What does it mean to be connected to our food? What is the balance between taking life and giving life?
Based on the North Shore of O’ahu, IMPRINT is the story of two souls, whose lives have intertwined with the ocean. Shane Hamamoto, who has lost the ability to spearfish and dive, from barometric trauma now expresses his passion for the ocean through Gyotaku – the traditional art of Japanese fish printing.
Alicia Holland, a young spearfisher woman from the Big Island of Hawai’i, has taken her love for the ocean to support her family and as an outlet through nature. She recognizes that she is growing up in an age of abundance and grocery stores – the aching unnaturalness of modern amenities has had her resort back to the thrill of the hunt.
We follow her life as she navigates the taboos and rewards associated with spearfishing.
During summertime, the sun never sets above the arctic circle. This time-lapse video aims to show the special light that appears during the midnight hours when the sun nearly touches the horizon. All in glorious 8K resolution.
I hope you all enjoy the video of Glenridding with its stunning autumn colours.
Glenridding is a village at the southern end of Ullswater, in the English Lake District. The village is popular with mountain walkers who can scale England’s third-highest mountain, Helvellyn, and many other challenging peaks from there.
For the next five weeks, travel writer Simon Parker is cycling the length of Britain for Telegraph Travel, from Shetland to the Scillies. But how might a long-distance, unsupported bike tour be different in these uncertain Covid-times? Watch the video to see his 127-mile-cycle from the north to the south of Shetland. We’ll have a video of Simon’s full journey from Shetland to the Scillies when he finishes his trip in a few weeks.
With a lack of restrictions on water use, owners of some large-scale farms in the United States are drying up underground water tables. All they have to do is buy the land to have access to as much free water as they want. In Arizona, farm owners and ranchers are digging ever deeper to irrigate their land, leaving other residents with low water reserves. Meanwhile, parts of the land have caved in, collapsing as the water is pumped up from beneath. Our France 2 colleagues report, with FRANCE 24’s James Vasina.
In 2019, members of the National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition set out to install five new weather stations on Mt. Everest, including the highest weather station on Earth. Follow along as the team climbs into the mountain’s “death zone” to complete the network of weather stations in order to improve our understanding of climate change.
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