I’m a writer and photographer based in Hebden Bridge in the West Yorkshire Pennines.
My interests include the natural world, the British countryside, science in general, and Charles Darwin in particular. I combined these interests in my first book, On the Moor: Science, History and Nature on a Country Walk.
I’m currently working on a book about looking at the world Through Darwin’s Eyes.
-
St Patrick’s Day
On St Patrick’s connection with North Wales, and the debunking of a famous biogeographical myth.
-
Literary conventions
Photographers are not unsuccessful painters, and factual writers are not wannabe novelists.
-
The real Wuthering Heights
In which I rant about the West Yorkshire Pennines’ identity crisis.
-
Feel-good February
This disconcertingly mild winter, I’m going to enjoy February or die in the attempt.
-
2025: a year in photos
My fifteenth annual video slideshow.
-
Charles Darwin reviews Jane Austen
A short piece to mark the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth.
Sign up for my free newsletters
Richard Carter’s newsletters
RICH TEXT: My personal newsletter about science, history and nature writing.
DARWIN NEWSLETTER: Celebrating the grandeur in Charles Darwin’s view of life.
Latest newsletters
-
Rich Text newsletter No. 37: ‘These people knew mammoths!’
Ice age art • Robert Macfarlane • Kathleen Jamie • medieval poems • lichen • Barbarian Conspiracy • the Shipping Forecast • escaping the entropy • and more…
- Darwin the botanist • UNESCO recognition • Darwin’s address book • Charles Lyell • Leonard Jenyns • punctuated equilibria • what the heck are chins for? • and lots more…
Buy my book
On the Moor: science, history and nature on a country walk
Richard Carter’s fascinating exploration of his local grouse-moor in West Yorkshire digs deep into natural history, human history, prehistory, and the history of science. His writing is grounded, insightful, and frequently hilarious, and he shows how falling in love with your own local patch can be a gateway to the whole world.
—Neil Ansell, author and journalist
