Comments and Reviews

Peter Marren's Review in British Wildlife Magazine June 2015 (www.britishwildlife.com)
Click image to enlarge. 

The Botanical Society for Britain and Ireland (BSBI) will be publishing a formal review by C.D.Pigott of The Flora of Derbyshire in due course. Meanwhile here are a few comments and tweets we have so far received from happy purchasers. Feel free to leave a comment on this page if you would like to leave your own feedback. Or email the authors at floraofderbyshire@gmail.com

"My copy of your Flora arrived today. Many congratulations on its production; it looks very fine and on a par with the several excellent Floras that have appeared in the past few years. Thank you also very much for my copy – I shall greatly enjoy using it in the future."

Professor Clive A. Stace, Suffolk.

"I've just received your Flora, and am enjoying it very much, especially the extra chapters on interpretation. It is a real tour-de-force. I do like the layout . . . and I particularly like the historical bit (my interest at the moment) and Chapter 6, with a wealth of information. The bit on errors is really useful, and almost always omitted or buried in the text. And a glossary! What a treat! A great achievement."

David Pearman,  BSBI Past President and New Atlas co-editor

"A huge 'Thank you' to you and Nick for the wonderful 'Flora of Derbyshire' which arrived here on Friday. As you may know I have been interested in the subject since childhood in the 1930s. If only botanical knowledge and effort had been available to me then! So far, of course, I've only just leafed through the book but it shows the stupendous effort that you have had to put into the task. . . . Botanical expertise has come a long way in 80 years, and we who simply look on, and pick up the benefits, don't appreciate how lucky we are. There needs to be a 'Nobel Prize' for people like you! . . . So, your splendid publication has brought a lot back to me, and as I get further and further into it no doubt the riches will continue!"
Mike Atkinson, Yorkshire

"Very many congratulations to you . . . for producing such a masterpiece. Full of detailed and comprehensive information, wonderful illustrations and a credit to you two as authors, and also to the army of botanical volunteers, notable among which are Ken Balkow and Graeme Coles, both of whom did such sterling work in recording for the South Yorkshire Plant Atlas. Your Flora is a landmark botanical publication for Derbyshire and will remain the standard text for many years to come. 
Geoffrey Wilmore Ecological Consultant and VC63 Plant Recorder, S.W.Yorkshire.

" Thank you for bringing my copy. Clearly it is not the kind of work that you would read like a novel, but I have already dipped into one or two of the species accounts and skimmed through some of the other sections. I can only describe it as stunning. . . . One of the features that I particularly like is the "Greater Derbyshire" maps. I think this is a novel expression which deserves to be adopted more widely. Also I especially liked the inclusion of all of your helpers and the accounts of other county botanists. Well Done."
Roy Branson, Derby.

"Kate and I picked up our Flora yesterday. Huge congratulations to you both! We know just how much time and effort went into this project (the Avifauna gave us a clue!) so you have every reason to be delighted as well as relieved now that it is published. . . . Take a bow!"
Bryan Barnacle, Chairman, Derbyshire Ornithological Society.

"Hi Alan and Nick, Just wanted to let you know picked up my copy from DWT earlier and am setting aside this evening to look at it properly. It looks absolutely fantastic. Congratulations! You both should be very proud (and relieved!)." 
Debbie Alston, Derbyshire Mammal Recorder, Belper.

"Many congratulations . . .for such a fine publication. I particularly liked the 'bullseyes'and the many excellent photographs. So many Floras contain mere close-ups of flowers that add nothing to the knowledge of the county. In your case they are vastly more meaningful, clearly illustrating locality and habitat."  John Hawksford, Author of The Flora of Staffordshire, 2014.