Yorkshire Dales: New Naturalist 130: Leather bound

The Yorkshire Dales National Park is a special place: its outstanding scenery and the diversity of habitats is perhaps unrivalled in any other National Park in Britain. This rich biodiversity has been a great attraction to naturalists for over two centuries. But to fully appreciate the present-day plant and animal communities, their status and the constraints upon them, it is important to understand the geology and landscape history of the National Park, including the role that human populations have played in modifying the environment.

In this long-anticipated New Naturalist volume, John Lee introduces the National Park, exploring both its geology and geomorphology, and describing the role of early naturalists and the Yorkshire Naturalists Union in recording and understanding the natural history of the Dales. He describes the major habitats or groups of habitats which underline the ecological importance of the Yorkshire Dales.

Lee covers the earliest settlement times to the modern day, and he focuses in particular on the most iconic plant of the Dales, the Lady’s Slipper Orchid, arguably the rarest of native British plants, which until recently was thought to be confined to a single plant in the Dales. Lee takes a historical approach, describing its near eradication and early attempts to conserve it – including the establishment of a secret society – concluding with recent scientific conservation approaches.

As new condition. Leather bound with NN monogram to the front cover, gilt title on the spine and gilt on all edges. Tipped-in limitation plate to the front endpaper, signed by the author and indicating 50 numbered copies were released. The plate is also marked with a letter ‘B’ (a very small number of these special editions were marked with a letter rather than a number, often signifying designation for a contributor or special collection). In addition, the traditional New Naturalist dustjacket is provided and has been signed by the artist and designer, Robert Gillmor, on the front inside flap. Presented in brown, cloth covered slip case.

Click here for all our New Naturalist limited editions