News Archive

'Elementary my dear Watson!'

At the Royal Welsh Show on Monday 19 July, Iolo Williams presented Richard Birch, winner of Natur Cymru's Inspired by Nature writing competition with a £500 prize.

Richard, who is principal ecologist at Capita Symonds, Colwyn Bay scooped the first prize with his story, Extract from a Victorian Diary. The storyline is a familiar one, about reading the signs of nature, but told in a novel and engaging way from the point of view of naturalist none other than Sherlock Holmes. Accompanied by Dr Watson, he studies the rocks beneath Parys Mountain, deducing their age by the presence of marine fossils, before going on to identify the resident species of bat from the wings of moths on the floor, and so on.

Judge Andrew Forgrave, Rural Affairs Editor at the Daily Post praised the story:

'For sheer originality, the stand-out essay. The concept of the nature detective is nothing new, but Richard succeeds admirably in the deceit of writing his article in the style of Conan Doyle. A novel way of bringing nature to a wider audience.'

In second place was Chris Kinsey, from Newtown, with her article titled 'The Art of Seeing Kingfishers.' Chris has a well established background as a writer and was BBC Wildlife Poet of the Year in 2008. She is a member of Academi, Powys Arts Forum and on the Board of Tŷ Newydd, The National Writers’ Centre for Wales.

The competition was organised by Natur Cymru, the quarterly bilingual journal dedicated to the wildlife and nature of Wales. The prize was sponsored by WWF Cymru.

Next year’s Inspired by Nature writing competition will be sponsored not only by WWF Cymru, as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations, but also by Tŷ Newydd. 1st prize will be £500 and 2nd prize a residential nature writing course worth £500. The judging panel will include Gillian Clarke, the National Poet of Wales.

For more information about Natur Cymru,
please click here.
 

Image shows (from left to right), Richard Birch (1st prize), Anne Meikle (WWF), Iolo Williams, David Parker (CCW), and Chris Kinsey (2nd Prize)