Theodore Wood (1862–1923)

Apart from the wonderfully condescending title phrase common to all this series, redolent of Edwardian attitudes, this book has the odd section within its covers which can give pause for thought.

I'm thinking of the part which describes how to make a closer acquaintance with a once-widespread British flatfish, the flounder. The gist is that you should carefully wade out barefoot on a muddy beach. The book suggests that much sooner than later you should find you have stepped on a flounder, which can then be retrieved for study and observation (or probably something else, as I know children aren't exactly angels at all times). The method itself might seem a bit far-fetched, but I don't think the authors were wearing rose-tinted spectacles when suggesting it.

Nowadays, except in certain very specific locations of the British shoreline, what they suggest doing is near-impossible, and at best pretty difficult.

Yes, there is a competition along these lines held annually in the Solway Firth, but you'd be very fortunate to meet with success in many places elsewhere, or do so without injury in more urban locations. Bare feet and broken glass or other man-made beach rubbish don't really mix well, though I do realise that certain locations were much more comprehensively polluted then. However, the fish are now very much less widespread than they used to be. Also, it can be surprisingly difficult to just get access to a bit of muddy shore today.

To go more deeply into this would mean a major digression, but it's worth pondering that an Edwardian child lucky enough to have access to the coastline had a much better opportunity of making first-hand contact with the natural world than our children do nowadays, despite the constraints on some of their behaviour and the general talking-down-to. Just a thought.… (més)