Topical Talks – a series of talks with Gloucestershire people

February: Dark skies and Star Count with astronomer Dr Neil Havard
We talk to Dr Neil Havard from the Cotswold Astronomical Society. Neil talks to Mark Hurrell about dark skies, light pollution and how we can do our bit to reduce it.
He also talks about the CPRE Star Count where we ask you to look up to the stars and count how many you can see within the Orion constellation on a clear night between 6-14 February 2021. Get involved in Star Count here.
Dark skies with Dr Neil Havard
Dr Neil Havard is a member of the Cotswold Astronomical Society
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January: Rewilding with Anselm Guise of Elmore Court
We kicked off our Topical Talks series in January 2021 with Anselm Guise, the owner of Elmore Court, an estate including a grade II listed mansion located at Elmore in the Stroud district.
Anselm talked to Mark Hurrell about his rewilding project on his 1000 acre estate, which allows land to return back to nature. He talks about this fascinating project and their plans for the future including the introduction of Tamworth pigs and Exmoor ponies. He also tells us how he went from DJing around the world to becoming the owner of Elmore Court!
Anselm is a member of CPRE Gloucestershire. Find out more about membership here.
Rewilding at Elmore Court
If you'd like to find out more about Elmore Court and the rewilding project visit their website here.
Visit Elmore Court websiteAnselm mentions the ‘Knepp experiment’ in West Sussex whose story is told in the book ‘Wilding: The return of nature to a British farm’. We have a lovely review of this book at our Book Club, you can read it here.
About the Interviewer
Mark Hurrell has lived in Gloucestershire for over 30 years and was the editor of BBC Radio Gloucestershire from 2002 to 2016. His career in the media has been long and varied including a spell at BBC Points West TV where he was a regular presenter and reporter. Mark also worked on the BBC‘s coverage of WW1 and other major projects. He is a governor at the King’s School, Gloucester and was involved in the setting up of the Pied Piper appeal. In his spare time Mark is a keen amateur singer and supporter of Gloucester Rugby.