FIELD REPORT

Field of Dreams Nurturing Nature

Bob and Rosemary Salisbury have transformed their house near Seskinore Forest into a welcoming home to both family and nature. Lindsay Hodges takes a look inside.

Nature is the ultimate warrior, a seasoned survivor who takes everything we throw at her yet still comes back for more. She keeps going despite the relentless eradication of hedgerows, destruction of natural habitats, drowning of oceans in plastic and, at times, the complete failure of environmental consideration in central and local government policy. Nature has every right to feel completely let down. Yet she does not desert us, still raising defiant fingers of foxgloves on even the most recently razed banksides and trying her best to sustain her precious offspring.

Sometimes, however, we truly push Nature to her limits, leaving the land in such a sorry state that only active human assistance can revive and restore it enough to make a comeback. This is demonstrated abundantly in the project taken forward over the last 15 years by Bob and Rosemary Salisbury. Both renowned educationalists who have already made significant contributions to making life better for many, the Salisburys have taken the concept of leaving a legacy to a different level altogether since their decision to move back to Rosemary’s native County Tyrone in 2003. It was meant to be a

temporary move, but that’s not what fate had in store.

They are now into their 16th year at their house near Seskinore Forest, transformed into both a family home and a genuine space for nature. They turned the bleakest five acres into a balanced beauty of a garden, woodland, herb and vegetable patch, orchard and ponds. From nothing, the land now hosts 64 bird species, 12 mammal species and a parade of bees, butterflies, moths and insects. To say it is a complete transformation simply couldn’t do it justice. When Christine Cassidy and I visited, Bob was jubilant with the appearance of a 65th bird species, a family of great spotted woodpeckers. The story of their labour of love for the landscape is vividly described in Bob’s engaging and honest book, Field of Dreams, published by The Blackstaff Press in 2018. While fód in Irish refers to turf, or a sod, the name of their new home simply became a shortened version of the Field of Dreams, since Bob and Rosemary were forever working somewhere to turn the land around. Through an area of wild wood that opens out into a meadow, or beside crafted ponds that blend perfectly into a glade of once skip-rescued saplings, the air is alive with birdsong. It was the absence of any sound that Rosemary first noticed when they moved to Tyrone, remembering from

her childhood how the area was once alive with the calls of skylarks, curlews, lapwing and a dazzle of songbirds. She now found it a “rural desert” and they set about changing the fortunes of the land into a haven for wildlife of all shapes and sizes.

Bob told us, “Neither of us were experts in biodiversity; we knew nothing of garden design, had little spare cash, but we had a dream. We played it by ear and started planting trees under our own steam – over 1,000 whips of alder, oak, maple, ash, hazel and pine. We excavated three large ponds, thickened up existing hedgerows to form small woods, and sowed a wildflower meadow. Then we waited with bated breath.” The book describes the setbacks, hard work, persistence and vision, charting the land’s resurrection from zero to hero. There are many examples to have you smiling, such as Bob returning bags of dumped rubbish back to startled but shamed owners, or inadvertently covered in slurry when trying to take wildlife photographs. The book also charts Bob’s own change in approach about rural pastimes, describing himself now as a convert and advocate for all nature, seeking to influence and persuade through experience and example. Local residents are fully on board with the aim of reintroducing lost species to the area by sympathetic planting and conservation going hand in hand with farm management.

In November 2018, the project won the prestigious Sustainable Ireland award for the best environmental initiative. Not resting on their laurels, Bob and Rosemary are now working in partnership with The Woodland Trust and their neighbours to establish a sizeable expanse of mixed, native woodland in the area. They see their experiences as a case study of what can be achieved with the doggedness, will and vision to make a dream come true and are willing to share all they have learned. They can be reached through The Blackstaff Press and are happy to pass on any advice and encouragement to anyone wishing to establish projects of their own.

When we were leaving, we remembered the classic line from the 1989 baseball film Field of Dreams: “If you build it, they will come” and mentioned it to Bob. “That’s it exactly,” he said, smiling. “It really is possible.”