Embracing Autumn in the Brecks
Our quick guide for enjoying autumn to the fullest in the Norfolk and Suffolk Brecks. More
In 1925, a man called William George Clarke published a book about the Brecks called In Breckland Wilds. If you think we’re Brecks-obsessed, it’s nothing compared to Clarke, he lived, breathed and wrote the Brecks!
His book is important because it celebrated this beautiful and unusual area of Britain – which despite its extremely significant history and rare ecological value, was, and still is, overlooked.
Clarke spent years studying the Brecks from every angle. He wrote about the landscape and the way it was being farmed, its plants and animals, the towns and their history, archaeology and geology, and even local dialect and ghost stories!
Reading his book today is like looking through a window and seeing back in time. We can look at the landscape 100 years ago on the page, and the landscape in front of us today, and see what’s changed straight away.
Here are three things we can learn from In Breckland Wilds:
1) When the landscape changes, so do the things that live in it.
A huge landscape change that has occurred since In Breckland Wilds was written, is the planting of Thetford Forest. When Clarke was writing, the vast majority of the Brecks was heathland and the birds, animals and plants he records as common, reflect that. Right at the start of the book, Clarke writes,
“the Forestry Commission has recently purchased about 20,000 acres of the poorest land in the district…and will convert this into the largest single forest created in this country.”
Of course, this is what has happened and the change in landscape has affected the species we find here. For example, despite writing about a huge variety of birds in the area, Clarke doesn’t mention seeing the awesomely fast and slightly mysterious bird of prey: the goshawk. Goshawks are famously forest-loving birds and, though they were nearly extinct in the UK by 1900, they are making a slow come-back. Today, the Brecks is one of the best places to see this bird in England.
But, of course, changing the landscape from heathland to forest also means some species are no longer found here or that their populations are reduced. For example, Clarke writes, “large areas of heathland are covered with bracken, heather and sand-sedge,” whereas, today, the patches of heather and sand-sedge on Breckland heaths are small and scattered.
He also writes a great deal about the ground-nesting stone curlew, a very distinctive bird that breeds on heathlands. While Clarke was alive, stone curlews were extremely common and he writes that,
“its shrill call, whether weird and wild under a grey sky, or jubilant in the moonlight or sunshine, is one of the most thrilling summertime sounds of the heaths.”
Fortunately, we still have stone curlews nesting in the Brecks each year, but their numbers are greatly reduced from 100 years ago.Clarke himself makes a prediction which has, unfortunately, come true when he writes,
“The stone curlew is a very wary bird, and it seems probable that any reduction in its numbers in Breckland will be occasioned by the breaking up and cultivating or planting some of the heathland areas.”
2) What we do today will impact nature in the future.
As with the change from heath to forest, Clarke charts very clearly in his work the impact every human activity can have on the future of the Brecks.
Today, the area is famous for its pine lines, the rows of twisted Scots Pine known as “belts”, they are so iconic they’re on Brecks roadsigns and in our logo! But this feature was created by humans in order to make the Brecks more habitable. Perhaps the most significant natural characteristic of the Brecks is its sandy soil, and Clarke records the “sand floods” that occur when these tree belts aren’t there to provide a windbreak. He writes about the sand being so thick in the air as to look like smoke. These belts of trees prevent the sand from drifting so much and made it possible to farm the land, but it also makes it easier for more people to live here, so population density has risen significantly since Clarke was writing.
One of the most distinctive types of farming in the Brecks historically was warrening, or rabbit farming. Clarke records the impact of the rabbits on the land, as well as what happens to it when rabbits are completely removed.
“Rabbits exercise a great effect on vegetation…for here the rabbit is king. He flourishes, and the heathland looks in parts like a tropical desert, in others the heather and grass are short and the turf springy. He is reduced to a remnant, and the bents and sand-sedge become masters of the situation.”
He even records that, when the Shadwell Estate managed to get rid of its rabbit population entirely, “vast quantities of oak and furze seedlings sprang up all over the place”.
Keeping such a thorough record of what he did and didn’t see, also allowed Clarke to accidentally record the effects of human baheviour. For example, another bird Clarke doesn’t mention in his book is the raven and that is because he did not see them here. In an article he wrote for the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists’ Society he says ravens, “formerly nested in the district, but now extinct as a resident”. Raven populations across the UK struggled for many years, suffering persecution from landowners who saw them as pests. However, as this persecution is reduced, numbers are slowly rising and, in just the last few years, ravens are being seen more regularly in the Brecks.
We can see from In Breckland Wilds, that historic human activity is still affecting the landscape today, as well as dictating which species can thrive and which may die out.
What are we doing today that will affect species here in future?
3) Making a record of the natural world around you is extremely important.
Finally, we can see that, without Clarke’s writing, we would not be able to make such a clear comparison between the Brecks today and what it was like 100 years ago. This just goes to show how important it is to record our experience of the landscape and the plants, insects and animals we see here. If we keep our studies and our records as detailed as Clarke did, the people who live here in 100 years’ time will be able to learn from us as we can from Clarke.
This is why, on the lead up to celebrating In Breckland Wilds’ 100th birthday, we’re inviting as many people as we can to take part in making their own record of the Brecks as they know it, their own In Breckland Wilds.
If you’re interested in being a part of this series of events, get in touch at bfer.admin@suffolk.gov.uk or keep an eye on our Events page or our Eventbrite.
