BRIAN Fereday is a true man of nature.

Conservation and habitats are his raison d'etre.

Born and bred in Westmorland, Brian has responded to the landscape he so dearly loves with Homeground, a book of more than 100 poems.

Brian has motor neurone disease, a terribly debilitating condition.

Although it has rob him of the power speech, in Homeground his poetic voice seems stronger than ever.

His book is personal - and very special.

From the four-line Bliss to the four-page The Burden, he tells it exactly as he sees, feels it - and how it was.

Brian's poems stem from a lifetime of observing and working on the land.

Born in Levens in 1950, he worked from an early age in gardens growing vegetables and in the woods helping 'older fellas.'

As a young boy explored his local woods, mosses, fells and the estuary learning about landforms, the seasons, fauna and flora.

As a young man, he worked as a woodland research scientific assistant and then for a local contractor.

For 38 years he worked for The National Trust at Sizergh as a forester and estate manager.

Since taking early retirement at 60 in 2010 he has continued his interest and involvement in the regeneration and conservation of local woodland and orchards; benefitting wildlife and human alike.

He has been quietly penning poetry for 15 years and only recently brought his prose out to share and pass on his passion for his surroundings in his native county.

Brian's wife, Fiona Clucas, is one of the region's best known artists, a member of the Society of Wildlife Art and Lake Artists Society.

A founder member of Kendal's Green Door arts co-operative, her inspiration also comes from a love of the area's many varied habitats - its wildlife, flora, the elements and their effects on the landscape.

Particularly renowned for her bird life images Fiona captures nature in mixed media, while Brian paints vivid pictures with words.

Side by side they have successfully shared exhibition space - the first at Barwick Hall in Witherslack in the summer of 2012, and in 2013 Journeys North at Brantwood.

Fiona has illustrated some of Brian's poems, enhancing his words beautifully, especially Curlew and adding weight to the pike's 'baleful glance' in Predator.

Communicating via his iPad, Brian says that getting out in the landscape, observing and experiencing in an alert way one draws closer to something that we are part of and no matter what we think without it we wouldn't be here.

"That something is the natural world. By observing it with awareness, whether it be mountain or midge, we give it recognition. Taken further that recognition turns to a realisation that we are all interdependent and vulnerable.

"The poems are written from my observations and realisations. I hope the poems and illustrations inspire others to go out and make links with their landscapes, plants, trees and animals, human or fur and feather."

Homeground is available at Low Sizergh Farm Shop, price £15.