Simon Barnes Author and Journalist

Sports and Wild Blog

Simon Barnes

Free as a bird

by 18 Comments

I’m just back from family hols in Cornwall where I spent a lot of time sitting on a particular cliff-top rock with my younger boy, looking out at the Atlantic, observing its changing moods and cheering every time we saw a clouded yellow butterfly. Every so often there’d be a call, a caw with a bit of a boing in it, normally four birds all together, and that was even better.

Choughs are so deeply Cornish that they appear on the county’s coat of arms. But they went extinct as Cornish birds, mostly because of changes in the way coastal fields were managed. Towards the end of the last century, farmers took up options to bring back the rough pasture choughs thrive on; the idea was to release captive-bred choughs once conditions were right.

But before this could happen, choughs came over from Ireland by themselves in 2001, and they’ve been there ever since. It’s one of those deeply heartening stories. Birds are mobile – they tend to be able to fly – and if conditions are right for them, they are pretty likely to drop in. Cornish choughs are back: red-legged, red-beaked, family-orientated, boingy-voiced and apparently indomitable. Life should be like that.

So there’s a role model, eh? The analogy is not precise but never mind: choughs came back from a setback undaunted and that’s what I’m planning to do myself. I may no longer be with The Times but I’m still as boingy as hell. And I’ve got a book to write…

Comments

  1. Sandra Padfield says

    Glad to find your website now ‘up and running’. Wishing you all the best for the future which I’m sure will be fruitful. (My husband experienced three redundancy events in his working life and each one left him stronger and more prosperous.) Onwards and upwards.

    Reply

  2. Keith Owens says

    Good luck to you, Simon; it’s The Times’ loss not yours. I have enjoyed both your newspaper work and several of your books. As your writing often shows you have a good sense of humour which will stand you in good stead whilst you build your future and, no doubt, equally successful career as a freelance. Like many others, I’ll be looking out for your writings wherever they appear.

    Reply

  3. Tom Connor says

    Dear Simon,
    Delighted to see the website up and running and that you are back in print. You have been missed in the intervening weeks since your last Times column. Perhaps you could have your techy chap (or whoever is doing your website) send out an alert when you have a new post up. I’ll be spreading the word.

    Reply

  4. Jonathan Baile says

    I have enjoyed your writing for many years, and it’s been tricky to keep track as a Telegraph reader. I’m lucky enough to have a squad of ‘spotters’ to alert me for particularly special pieces. I wonder if you are permitted to publish a collection of your columns?

    Regardless, keep writing and all the best with your new ventures.

    Reply

    • Simon Barnes says

      The Times hold copyright. Besides, I never think volumes of collective journalism work that brilliantly. I have a new wildlife book on the go right now and I will be doing a sports book after that.

      Reply

  6. Peter Thomas says

    Hi Simon,

    Found your blog circuitously from cricinfo via wikipedia. Currently sitting in Cornwall, though no Chough sightings today – did think I heard one around Kynance Cove however.

    Have always enjoyed your writing – at least before the paywall was erected. Sorry to hear about your setback, but glad to see you bouncing back. Good luck with the next phase, for which I’m sure your talent equips you much more than adequately.

    Peter

    PS some sort of WordPress glitch logging in using Chrome (the logging process seems to just hang), worked first time in Firefox. An issue at WordPress Towers I assume rather than anything you can control.

    Reply

  7. Elaine Johnson says

    Due to serious illness in the family it has taken me this long to discover why my favourite writer is missing from my favourite paper. I look forward to your future wildlife writings which were always a treat of intelligence, knowledge and poetry. Several times after a long tiring day your articles have moved me to tears or, better still , to go and look things up in more depth. I wish you, your family and career all the best for the future.

    Reply

  8. David Hill says

    Dear Simon,
    just a short note to add my voice to the others, as to me The Times’ decision was bizarre beyond belief. I’d only just reconciled myself to the loss of Martin Samuel (and that was around 4 or 5 years ago), and now your always ‘different’ musings are gone.
    Best of luck with your new phase – I’ve zero doubt it will be as successful as your Times stint was.
    Regards,
    David
    PS Selfishly I hope you don’t end up at the DM, a paper beyond the pale for me ever since their “report” on the first Christ Evert / Martina Navratilova Wimbledon final.

    Reply

Please leave a comment