Meet our new guest contributor:

We’re very proud to welcome our first guest contributor to Encounter, Linda Clark, who will be writing about nature in the North and North-West of England. Linda is originally from West Cumbria and is now based in south Manchester. With a quiet static caravan near Kendal, she moves between urban canals and parks and the quieter edges of the Lake District. Using her camera and the Encounter app, she records the weather, her reflections and the wildlife she comes across, later expanding these observations in her journal and on Substack.

Linda is especially drawn to birds, hedgehogs, dragonflies and fungi, though she’s fascinated by all aspects of nature — particularly the overlooked and ‘hidden’ wildness found along canal paths. “I believe there is beauty in small details that many walk past. I hope to encourage others to slow down, look closer, and discover the beauty thriving right under our noses,” she says. We couldn’t agree more.

You’ll be able to see Linda’s posts if you have your location in Encounter set to a county in the North-East or North-West. We hope to welcome more guest contributors soon, and are particularly keen to hear from you if you have good nature knowledge and are from Wales, Ireland or Scotland.