Getting the buzz on city meadows

In the wake of Stoke-on-Trent's decision to encourage more wild meadows and rank grass verges this summer, it's interesting to see that there's a large-scale science project on that in Bristol, Reading, Leeds and Edinburgh. It's looking at exactly what type of grassland and wild flowers work best for pollinator insects in a modern city environment. It's good to see — and it's also refreshing to be reminded that there are sensible UK environmentalists who are about making things better with hard facts and data, unlike the woolly-minded loons who are gleefully pumping up a big bubble of outright lies about shale gas. Above: managed meadowland alongside the River Trent, Staffordshire University Nature Reserve at Stoke-on-Trent.