Worcestershire Record No. 21 April 2007 p. 4

^{This will be an exceptionally interesting meeting. Sue Clifford is a leading protagonist in the appreciation of local distinctiveness. This outlook is important to all aspects of our country and countryside especially as many of us have lived through (and are still living through) times of remarkable changes. For naturalists and biological recorders the countryside has undergone profound changes and although some species have increased in distribution and numbers far more have declined drastically in the face of intensive agriculture and development. These changes continue and climate change is on the brink of introducing further great changes. We need to record the countryside and its fauna and flora as well as and as quickly as we can so we can understand and follow change, and hopefully find ways of preventing the worst. We cannot do this without the basic information.}

Sue Clifford and Angela King are founder directors of Common Ground which has for almost 25 years been championing the commonplace and offering ideas, information and inspiration for people to look after their own localities. Their 1985 book Holding Your Ground - an action guide to local conservation set the standard and in 2006 their acclaimed book England in Particular: a celebration of the commonplace, the local, the vernacular and the distinctive was published by Hodder & Stoughton. They have pioneered Parish Maps, orchard conservation, Apple Day, Local Distinctiveness and much more arguing that unless we all are involved in taking care of the ordinary and the everyday that the rare, the endangered and the special will fade away.

For the rest of the programme we are planning two approaches. Firstly,  short presentations to highlight certain natural history features which are special to Worcestershire. Secondly t short presentations on observed changes which are happening now.