NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

9868 - that's the species total of all the wildlife seen in the UK by one Jonty Denton. He is top of the pile for such full on listing and you may wonder how he finds the time to sleep, breathe and eat if he is identifying every rotifer, smut and beetle that he comes across. This is impressive enough, but get this - he also has 1540 model aircraft, 100 British railway locomotives and has visited every English Cathedral. Obsessives? Don't you just love 'em. If you want to read more about Jonty and those other big listers visit http://markgtelfer.co.uk

In March this year I pulled the plug on my blog 'North Downs and beyond'. It had become, after almost two years of posting, a bit of a chore. But I now find myself wanting to add yet more inane wittering to the already crowded and bloated world wide web. I said I wouldn't do it again. But I was reminded of the Olympic oarsman Steve Redgrave, who once said,"If anybody sees me getting into a boat again, you have my permission to shoot me". Well, he did get back in...