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CHRIS DODD NATURE · LANDSCAPE · HISTORY
Sunlight over wildflowers and long grasses beneath a wide blue sky

Nature · Landscape · History

Where nature finds a way

Britain’s lost histories and returning wildernesses.
A different way of looking at the land around us.

Available from 28 November 2026

Meet New Wildernesses

The world of New Wildernesses

Chris Dodd · Nature writing

A book by Chris Dodd

New Wildernesses

Lost Histories and Recovered Nature

Fourteen places across Britain, each with a past — and a new life shaped by nature.

New Wildernesses explores landscape, history, and the wildness that returns when places are left alone.

About the book

Paperback & eBook

Three-dimensional cover of New Wildernesses by Chris Dodd

Explore the site

A closer look at nature’s return

From places across Britain to our wildlife garden and the ‘wild’ land on the valley side.

An old stone arch frames a green path and trees.
Woodford Halse, Northamptonshire. Abandoned railway line in a cutting, passing below a bridge. The line has returned to nature, the varied habitats supporting many species. Abandoned lines are also key wildlife corridors, often extending for miles.

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Flower borders of purple geraniums, red flowers and pansies frame a mown lawn that runs into long meadow grass, with Lake District fields and hills beyond.

Our garden & ‘wild’ land

Our garden in the Lake District, seen in Secret Garden, and fifteen acres on the valley side being left to nature.

Visit the garden and the ‘wild’ land

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From the journal

Articles, thoughts and places. Writing beyond the pages of the book.

Read the journal

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Upcoming events

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19:00

Kendal Nature Recovery Programme

Eddington Centre (the former United Reformed Church and hall), 106A Highgate, Kendal LA9 4HE, UK

New Wildernesses: Lost Histories and Recovered Nature. Illustrated talk.