It sounds like a title that should be emblazoned on a sign outside a Victorian circus tent, but our painted lady is a beautiful earth-toned, striped butterfly named Vanessa - Vanessa cardui - literally ‘Vanessa of the thistles’. We’ve all heard of the monarch butterfly and its migration the length of North America, but who would have thought we have a similar butterfly migration here in west Cornwall? A butterfly whose round-trip is almost double that of the monarch's - cover

June 2026 It is easy to look out from Lean point across the waters of Treen or Rose-an-Hale cove and think that little changes, except for the weather - the swells that build and subside, the wind that whips up spindrift, the squalls that pass through on a brisk northwesterly. Underwater though, in spring, it is all change. Just as on the cliffs where the blackthorn bursts into bloom, and thrift and squill colour the rocky back drop, underwater the seaweeds come out of dorman

May 2026 Ponds are one of the most effective ways to boost biodiversity. We created three small ponds alongside the track to the cove in March 2025 and then two larger ponds with small islands a year later. Two, we planted and stocked with native species, the others we left to allow slower natural colonisation. The rarest type of pond in the UK, owing to most having been drained and filled, is a ‘liminal’ pond - those ponds that always appear to be in a transitional state -

April 2026 It's been over a year now since Vicky died - looking out over the cliffs that she loved. In that time, we've held two 'celebrations' for her life - one here and one in Kenya. This winter though I started to feel that a lasting, 'living memorial' would both honour her approach to life and celebrate the natural world that inspired her. It would be something that would grow - perhaps in size, but more importantly in biodiversity. There was no moment of decision but I