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From little acorns … to his 1,000th article for the Guardian country…

Mark Cocker's first country diary in autumn nineteen eighty-seven described a jay burying acorns near Norwich; the column is billed as the oldest in English-language newspapers.

On air: Dr. Nina Byte and Kenji Moonfield on The Weekend Shift
Published 9:07 AM ET, Saturday, October 17, 2026

Photo: Mark Cocker — Photo: Alasdair Cross, the sole owner this photograph who agrees… · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN

At a glance

First reported by The Guardian: “From little acorns … to his 1,000th article for the Guardian country diary”.
Covered on BBN on Saturday, October 17, 2026, at 9:07 AM ET on The Weekend Shift, by Dr. Nina Byte and Kenji Moonfield.
Topics: Guardian.
BBN covered this story before: Protected US sand tiger sharks sold to foreign aquariums, Guardian… (October 15).

The real story

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The GuardianFrom little acorns … to his 1,000th article for the Guardian country diary

What BBN said about it

Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentThe Guardian's Mark Cocker is nearing his thousandth country diary, a column that began in autumn nineteen eighty-seven with him watching a jay bury acorns near Norwich.

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