Author and photographer Amy takes us behind the scenes of her award-winning Lakeland Book of the Year Forty Farmsthat takes readers behind the scenes of 40 Cumbrian farms. With anecdotes from the project, insights into how farmers are managing in an increasingly d ifficult economic climate and the highs and lows of Lakeland farm life, Amy will also talk about how she captured some of her iconic farming shots. Wild Fellleaves you in no doubt thatif we don’t protect our wild blooms, there won’t be any bugs and there won’t be any birds and, ultimately, any people” Like the rivers it has rebent, the Haweswater project is re-wiggling farming into a more sustainable alignment with nature. And by similarly refusing to operate in siloed straight lines,Schofield’s own journey towards greater collaboration may have lessons to teach both of the UK’s rural tribes”

Exmoor rewilding. Guest blog for Mark Avery about the controversy around a vision for nature recovery in Exmoor National Park. markavery.info/16 Nov 2020 The bar will open and supper will be served. Then settle down for the ultimate Lake District pub quiz, hosted by Mark Richards, with prizes. Raffle, with proceeds going to Ambleside Action for a Future. Although Schofield works for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, this book is much more about the creation of the right environment for the flora to thrive and in so doing enable the fauna to rejuvenate, including the birds. It is the same rugged Lake District, beautiful and still accessible. The shape of the mountains is the same but it's got more trees and wildlife in it. We're seeing red kites returning and the critical thing is having sheep on enclosed land rather than wandering all over the place," Lee says.Of tooth and claw. Seventh article in Shadow Species series focuses on wild cats. Cumbria Life/Dec 2020. Version also available as a WildHaweswater post It has been a while since I have been to the Lake District but I remember walking the fells and enjoying the fresh air and views. Whilst it feels wild and bleak, it is a landscape that has been managed by man for hundreds of years. I have very little recognition of seeing much in the way of wildlife, thinking about it now, it just seemed to be a partially sterile landscape, with not much opportunity for life to thrive. Pine martens to the rescue? Sixth article in Shadow Species series focuses on pine martens. Cumbria Life/Nov 2020. Version also available as a WildHaweswater post Plant thefts are on the rise – and here’s why your garden could be at risk. Interviewed for an article on plant thefts, where I talk about the theft of pyramidal bugle from a remote crag in the Lake District. Telegraph/February 2021 Most depressing is the scale of opposition the RSPB faces for its plans in the Lakes. Landowners and farmers see them as upending years of farming methods (despite, as Schofield points out, these methods being relatively recent innovations in terms of their intensity) which have resulted in the famous landscapes we know today. Even the Lake District's UNESCO World Heritage listing focuses more on preserving the farming landscape as it is now than protecting or restoring nature.

The abuse hurt but Lee didn’t give up on his Lakes dream. Interviewed for an article about the personal aspects of Wild Fell. The Daily Express/February 2022

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The pyramidal bugle, England's rarest mountain flower, is found in just one location in the whole of the country, on a cliff ledge in Haweswater. Farmers have always done what society has asked of them," he says. "For the past 70 years, the demand has been to produce as much food as possible, particularly post-war. Their success has been extraordinary - a rise in productivity of 150 percent." Beavers, Farming & Beyond! with Lee Schofield. Interviewed by Sophie Pavelle and Eva Bishop for the Beaver Trust’s Lodge Cast. Podcast/March 2023 Climate breakdown, pollution, invasive non-native species and disease all played a part but the single most important factor was intensive agriculture. It may come as a surprise to that room of angry farmers but Lee's now one of their staunchest defenders.

The Lake District countryside has been shaped over thousands of years by two things farming and mining. Mining may no longer be economic; the farms, however, are still there. It may look like an idyllic way of life, but all is not well. A passionate, haunting yet optimistic account of the battle to heal a damaged landscape and restore nature to a corner of the Lake District. -- Dave Goulson Wild Felldocumentsa powerful journey through a bruised, beloved English landscape, expertly toldfrom Lee’s unique perspective. Sensitive,full of empathyand charged with a fierce, solution-based vision for a restorative, productive future alongside the natural world.I felt utterly compelled by his wise, deft prose, and am so grateful this book has been written. Aremarkabledebut.”

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A passionate, haunting yet optimistic account of the battle to heal a damaged landscape and restore nature to a corner of the Lake District.” The judges are drawn from the Richard Jefferies Society and their sponsors, the White Horse Bookshop, Marlborough who had the difficult choice of selecting an overall winner from a highly commendable shortlist of books: Lee Schofield's Wild Fell is a soaring elegy to nature, a book infused with a deep love of place, and a stirring call to restore wildlife to our landscapes. Written with wit, verve and humility, Wild Fell is above all a story of hope, weaving together deep insights about botany and the history of the land with a wisdom won through years of practical experience. -- Guy Shrubsole Like the rivers it has rebent, the Haweswater project is re-wiggling farming into a more sustainable alignment with nature. And by similarly refusing to operate in siloed straight lines, Schofield's own journey towards greater collaboration may have lessons to teach both of the UK's rural tribes. * New Statesman * It's one of many successful projects Lee has overseen. Using drone technology and ancient maps, straightened rivers have been returned to their natural meandering course and salmon numbers have swelled because they are now able to lay eggs in sheltered bends.

It is a very contested landscape. Interview for Inkcap Journal, talking about work at Haweswater and land management elsewhere in the Lake District. First interview in the Future Land series. Inkcap Journal/Jan 2021 This very good book will certainly be in my shortlist of books of 2022 even though we are only in February – it’s that good.Much of the appeal of Wild Fell stems from the fluency with which Lee Schofield conveys the intimate knowledge and deep feeling he has developed for the Haweswater landscape, his own personal commitment to enriching and developing it, and the unabashed delight he takes from each sign of progressive change. It is a highly personal story as well as a thoroughly documented account of a complex and ongoing conservation project, a combination which should earn it the wide readership it deserves.” Professor Barry Sloan, Chair of the panel of judges for the Richard Jefferies Award Nilsen, E. B., Milner-Gulland, E. J., Schofield, L., Mysterud, A., Stenseth, N. C., & Coulson, T. (2007). Wolf reintroduction to Scotland: public attitudes and consequences for red deer management. Proceedings. Biological sciences, 274(1612), 995–1002. Accessible online I have to admit, at the start of the book, I thought "Flowers? Oh, I thought this was going to focus on other things..." Fortunately, Schofield swiftly corrected my assumptions that I might be a little bored. I found myself carried away with his passion for wildflowers, and their role as a springboard for entire ecosystems. Also, I seemed to spend as much time Googling the images of the flowers as I did reading about them! Wild Fell is not just an inspiring book about the rewilding of a hill farm but also one of the most clearly written books on general ecological and conservation principles – many light bulb moments occurred whilst reading it. As such, I bought it for a colleague who wants to learn more about ecology in general (and she loved it too). Beautifully written, with an urgent sense of the need to protect our endangered landscape, this is a manifesto for a wilder future. * Daily Mail *