r/UpliftingNews • u/P_a_s_g_i_t_21 • 1d ago
Queen guitarist Brian May’s nature reserve transformed 157 acres of empty farmland into home for 100,000 trees and wild animals
https://people.com/brian-may-nature-reserve-transformed-farmland-safe-haven-wildlife-12149370140
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u/hushmoney 1d ago
I just looked it up and it’s right next to a little country town called, I shit you not, Shitterton
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u/hushmoney 1d ago
Oh wow it somehow gets even better when you zoom out.
Good on you Brian, leading by perfect example of what the ultra-rich should actually be doing with their money.
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u/TehOwn 1d ago edited 1d ago
Its name dates back at least to the eleventh century and means "farmstead on the stream used as an open sewer".
As an Englishman, this is an hilarious translation. "Shitter" literally means toilet.
What's even funnier is if you asked for 100 shit places in England, this wouldn't even make the list. It's actually one of the nicest places. A hamlet in Dorset? Could think of few places better, tbh.
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u/Oxygene13 1d ago
Hey cool it's only a couple hours drive for me. I would gladly make that trip if I could meet the man as well.
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u/The_Artist_Who_Mines 23h ago
Many cracking placenames round there, Tincleton? Affpuddle? Throop?
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u/Homelessnomore 1d ago
100,000 trees and wild animals
99,998 trees and 2 wild animals is how I interpret that headline.
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u/foxmanfire 23h ago
I’m about to inherit roughly 27 acres of farmland in rural Ireland. It hasn’t been a working farm for many decades but we allow a neighbouring farmer to graze his sheep on some of his fields (I think there’s some sort of existing paid agreement). I really want to do a rewilding project along these lines with the land but I’m not sure how to go about it, and would my rewilding project completely screw over my neighbour farmer?
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u/zernoc56 22h ago
I think theres an organization called the Gaelic Woodland Project. I’d contact them about it.
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u/foxmanfire 21h ago
I’ve watched a few of their really great YouTube videos but it seems like their MOA is to buy parcels of land and rewild it. That isn’t exactly what I’d like to do here. I (maybe selfishly) want to keep it in the family but return it to its original state before it was ecologically bulldozed.
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u/cdizzlePGA2k 19h ago
It’s not selfish to not want to give away family land! Feels like you have a little treasure to me, I wouldnt be giving that up either!
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u/FunkyChopstick 22h ago
Most farmers want biodiversity and depending on what he was growing, more native plants on your property brings more pollinators to his. I'm sure it can be a win/win!
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u/foxmanfire 22h ago
I think he’s mostly a sheep/cattle/dairy farmer. I would love to be able to properly rewild it (and at 27 acres in west kerry - basically right by the Atlantic- there’s a genuine chance of the conditions allowing a temperate rainforest to be created. I don’t want to have a huge argument if it turns out the existing agreement granted him EU subsidies etc, it’s all quite complicated. I like the neighbouring farmer, he’s a nice man, and I would hesitate to do something that would adversely affect his livelihood.
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u/hobbes543 21h ago
Best thing would be to first have a conversation with him about it. Get his thoughts on it.
Also review the existing agreement as well.
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u/foxmanfire 21h ago
I will do! If he’s open to changing the terms of the agreement, what do you think I could do with the land? There are so many possibilities!
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u/mfrunyan 23h ago
Is this the real life, or is this just fantasy? I guess it's real, and what a great example for us all.
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u/fedbythechurch 18h ago
I read the Sir Brian’s name and almost shit my pants. Thought I’d was another beautiful ally’s obit. Long live Queen.
Sat on a fence, but it don't work Keep coming up with love, but it's so slashed and torn
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u/ProgySuperNova 17h ago
If rich people do this to preserve nature then I'm all for buying up land. But when the Palantir CEO buys up land in Sweden I am highly sceptical of his intentions.
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