I read a fantastic book as a boy call “A Forest By Night” by Fred J. Speakman and ever since have had a special affection for badgers. In the book which I thoroughly recommend, although it’s near impossible to get hold of now, the author, recently bereaved and injured during the second world war and unable to work spends a year in Epping Forest staying out at night and recording everything he sees, through each season – most of the activity focusses around the lives if the badgers he watches. It’s an inspiring read and one of the first books on what we would now know as ‘woodlore’ or bushcraft. The author also also wrote a seminal work called ‘Tracks, Trails and Signs’ on the art of tracking.
You can find it 2nd hand at Abebooks.com for less than a tenner.
Excellent find – Thanks Martin:
Here’s a link to Speakman books on that site:
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?an=fred+speakman
I am currently working on Fred Speakmans life and have made on dvd concerning him
Colin
Thanks Colin – that sounds most interesting… look forward to hearing more about that.