Were they locals? Or opportunists? I don’t speak Portuguese – so, despite ostentatiously tutting as they hurled their recycling in, I never got to the bottom of it. Last night, I paid a visit to my nonagenarian mother in her market- town bungalow in Wales. As we had the dog in tow, I suggested a pleasant stroll around the ancient footpaths encircling the borough. No sooner had our pace got up than we came across a man tackling some overgrown ivy in his garden with an electric hedge-trimmer. ‘Tut tut,’ I whispered loudly. ‘Too early in the year, Mum. Holly blue butterflies are just emerging. Should I point out that, as a member of Butterfly Conservation, I like to act as the eyes and ears of this environmental group and politely but firmly point out the error of his ways?’ Mother was hissing apoplectically as she chivvied me onwards. ‘Shut...
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