The volunteers are working happily in a small nature reserve in Middlesex. They mow the meadows, repair the boardwalk, dredge the pond, and keep the paths tidy. They chat amongst themselves and discuss how they could solve all the world’s problems... if only the reserve’s management and government more generally would listen and act rationally. It would be idyllic, if it wasn’t for the litter-picking.

Years before, the area had been shaped by noisily competing railway companies: used as a quarry, and as railwaymen’s gardens, abandoned, saved from being built over. It was a miracle it had survived, with nature flourishing amidst the urban jungle. Meanwhile, in a minor English public school, the boys endure a life of spotty food, compulsory team games, bullying, and homophobia. Some of them are marked for life.

Back in the reserve, families visit on sunny days while school groups come to hunt bugs and go pond-dipping. But some visitors hurry in and out without glancing at the wildlife. What can they be up to? As the volunteers speculate on what’s happening, one of them plays a practical joke, which goes horribly wrong. As the police arrive to solve the supposed murder, history catches up with the unwelcome visitors.

Ian Alexander is a retired systems engineer, amateur naturalist, and conservation volunteer. He enjoys seeing and photographing wildlife of many kinds, especially dragonflies and orchids. He has co-authored several books on systems engineering.

He is the author of a history book, The English Love Affair with Nature (2015) and contributed five chapters to West London Wildlife (2022).

He gives talks to natural history groups on the subject of that love affair, and on topics such as camouflage and life in an urban nature reserve.

He is married with one daughter.

https://www.obsessedbynature.com