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The oblong woodsia known as Woodsia ilvensis is the rarest fern in Britain and in danger of extinction. Over collected by the Victorians in the nineteenth century and affected by climate change, this beautiful plant can now be found in only three sites across Scotland.  Luckliy, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is researching the genetic diversity of the fern with a hope to better understand and conserve the species. Nadia Russell who is currently studying the oblong woodsia kindly explained to me the problems the plant is facing. Warmer wetter winters and colder springs with sudden temperature fluctuations have led to confusion for...

When I ran my Indie Dyers opportunity in July, I didn’t expect to receive so many incredible entries. There is a vast very talented pool of people in the yarn business. I originally planned to make three Woolly bags, but I just had to select four and it’s been my pleasure to work with such talented dyers and their yarns. The first Woolly bag to be made was for Ishrat of Fruitful Fushion. Ishrat is the Nottingham-based dyer behind Fruitful Fusion. She dabbled in yarn dyeing while living in North Africa and absolutely loved it! About a year and a...

Mercury 13 was a privately-sponsored programme to assess and train women pilots to become astronauts in the 1960s. Thirteen women passed the tests which their male counterparts in Mercury 7 also underwent. In many cases, the women performed better than the men. Wally Funk was one of those women. Her story has been told in the book, Wally Funk's Race for Space. However, when NASA realised that this programme existed, it was abruptly halted. A government hearing was held.  Evidence was given. The training programme was cancelled and these amazing women never realised their dream for which they had worked...