-Laura McKee (The poem first appeared in The Beach Hut)

Catching the Chime of Ancient

The Highland road stretches behind us,
its dirt and diesel fumes
forgotten in the afternoon light.

We stand on silver-white sand now;
each grain squeaks beneath our bare toes
like dormice improvising a song.

In our hands powdered stars nestle,
trickling as our feet mark
two intertwining paths on Morar’s beach.

Rowans blow red-berried
in the shimmer of the Small Isles,
sky silent, watchful.

Immense blue and endless sand
still precariously balanced,
weighted by time and fossil.

Published in The Beach Hut

The Sea as a Fever

Inky black splashed beast, slashed by the growl
of a murderer, unleashing his delirious roar
like Heathcliff’s wail for Cathy through wind and fog,

uncorked, murky deep, black as a moor in November,
sting of salt spray, gallop of white horses into hell,
furious waves’ pull-tide wash, shuffle-crushed shingle

drag of human cargo, pitching up of weird beings,
Blackbeard’s grimace, bloodied booty, churned and tossed
one perfect storm, a throw-up like clearing guts of glue.

– Both by Maggie Mackay

The Marine Sonnets

The Seawatch

I watch the sea as the sea watches me.
The changing colour of my surfaces,
Waves blown by gust, what my tides, what my sea
leaves on the shoreline of my many faces.

The lagan and flotsam and derelict
and jetsam. Two buoys of my eyes bobbing
anchored in a silt of images mixed.
Always memories waxing and waning.

My inside sea watched by the sea outside.
Speaks to sea beasts moving in my blood.
I rise to where the waves move to imbibe
breath before I dive below livelihood.

The sea is me, I am the sea, watching.
I am a dying sea, a dried up thing

-Paul Brookes

Bios and Links

-Laura McKee’s

poems have appeared in Butcher’s Dog, The Interpreter’s House, The Rialto, Prole, Obsessed With Pipework, Stand, The Frogmore Papers, The Journal, Poetry Scotland, Poetry Salzburg Review, and anthologies from Smith|Doorstop and Emma Press. She was a winner in the Guernsey International Poetry Competition. Find her on Twitter: @LauraMcKee_fyeh

-Maggie Mackay

is an MA Poetry graduate of Manchester Metropolitan University with work in a number of online and print journals and anthologies. Several pieces have been shortlisted, commended in competitions, or nominated for the Forward Prize, Single Poem and the Pushcart Prize Her pamphlet ‘The Heart of the Run’, 2018 was published by Picaroon Poetry and her full collection ‘A West Coast Psalter’, Kelsay Books, is available now. In 2020 she was awarded a place in the Poetry Archive’s WordView permanent collection. She reviews poetry pamphlets at https://sphinxreview.co.uk (Happenstance Press) and loves to daydream with a dram.(Happenstance Press) and loves to daydream with a dram.  

-All by Christina Chin

Think carefully about whether to use pesticides especially where pollinators are active or nesting or where plants are in flower. Consider control methods appropriate to your situation and only use pesticides if absolutely necessary. Many people choose to avoid chemicals and adopt methods like physically removing pests or using barriers to deter them. If you choose to use a pesticide, always follow the label instructions.

Gardeners, allotment holders and amenity managers

Only use pesticides if absolutely necessary or use non-chemical alternatives where possible. In particular, avoid using pesticides on flowering plants or where pollinators are active or nesting. You could protect your plants by removing pests by hand or building barriers around vulnerable plants, such as netting or cardboard barriers, or by companion planting such as marigolds to ward off aphids.

Farmers, growers and large-scale amenity managers

For a balanced approach to managing pests on a larger scale, you should increase use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). You could also consider husbandry methods such as organic farming if they suit your business needs and circumstances. IPM entails the use of a range of approaches to prevent or suppress harmful organisms. These may include: crop rotation; appropriate cultivation techniques; balanced fertilisation, liming and irrigation; hygiene measures; protecting beneficial organisms; and using resistant or tolerant cultivars and certified seed and planting material.

Good practice in relation to pest control includes the following actions:

• Monitor your crops regularly to identify any pest problems, and take action as necessary based on the results;
• Use pest thresholds, where possible, to determine the need for plant protection measures. Take action only when the thresholds have been exceeded;
• When measures are really needed use biological, physical and other non-chemical methods where possible;
• Where pesticides have to be used, choose products that are as specific as possible and have the least side effects. Plan to use as little as possible and only what you need.

Further advice:

For further advice on IPM please visit: Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF), The Voluntary Initiative or The Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board. 

Organic farming limits the use of pesticides, encouraging the use of alternative non-chemical methods. These include rotation of crops, increasing genetic diversity, use of resistant crops and biological pest control.

For further advice on organic farming go to:

The Soil Association and the Organic Farmers and Growers.

Note: Government experts and a wide range of interested parties have helped to inform the development of these actions and the supporting advice. It is intended as good practice advice and should not be regarded as official guidance. The Bees’ Needs is hosted by The Bumblebee Conservation Trust on behalf of Defra in support of the emerging National Pollinator Strategy. The Bumblebee Conservation Trust does not own or endorse any content other than as a contributing stakeholder to the National Pollinator Strategy along with many other organisations and individuals.

Contact us at: pollinatorstrategy@defra.gsi.gov.uk

According to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust

“Avoid disturbing or destroying nesting or hibernating insects, in places like grass margins, bare soil, hedgerows, trees, dead wood or walls.

As well as making sure there are adequate food resources throughout the year for insect pollinators, it is also important to make sure they can nest in safety so that they and the next generation can survive overwinter, to start again in the following spring.

Most wild bees are not aggressive if they or their nests are left undisturbed. Some bumblebees nest underground in small mammal holes, under sheds and in heaps of compost or leaves which tend to be dry and dark. Others make nests above ground in thick grass or in trees. You can read lots more about bumblebee nests by clicking here.

The many different species of solitary bees have particular nesting requirements. A few species will make their nests in your lawn and many others favour bare patches of compacted soil, especially if sloping and with a southern aspect, where they can dig vertical nest tunnels.

In addition, some solitary bees nest above ground and you can provide them with hollow reeds, canes or twigs, or wooden blocks with holes of different sizes drilled into them (2mm to 10mm), or buy commercially available bee hotels, and hang them somewhere warm, sunny and sheltered about 1-2 m above the ground.

Note: Government experts and a wide range of interested parties have helped to inform the development of these actions and the supporting advice. It is intended as good practice advice and should not be regarded as official guidance. The Bees’ Needs is hosted by The Bumblebee Conservation Trust on behalf of Defra in support of the emerging National Pollinator Strategy. The Bumblebee Conservation Trust does not own or endorse any content other than as a contributing stakeholder to the National Pollinator Strategy along with many other organisations and individuals.

Contact us at: pollinatorstrategy@defra.gsi.gov.uk“

Photo by Glynn Young

Cut grass less often and ideally remove the cuttings to allow plants to flower.

Native flowering plants in grass areas, field corners, verges and specially sown flower-rich habitats support the greatest diversity of insect pollinators by providing nectar and pollen resources, places to nest or breed and leaves for caterpillars. Hence it’s important to get the management right.