An Environment describes the surroundings in which we live. We can look at the environment historically in two ways. By identifying ways in which the environment has moulded or changed the course of human history. William III in 1688 was assisted by the ‘protestant wind’ which kept James II’s fleet in harbour while allowing the invaders to sail to Devon. The presence of bogs by the river Forth was a vital element in the victory of the Scots over the English at Bannockburn in 1314. Towns have frequently developed where there were fords or bridges, and ports have grown or declined through the silting-up of themselves or their rivals. Wind and weather have frequently played a decisive role in battles or campaigns. we may consider the effects of human action on the environment itself. From the earliest prehistoric slash-and-burn agriculture to the development of genetically engineered crops, the natural environment of Britain has been modified by its inhabitants. Perhaps the most notable of changes has been the removal of the blanket of trees which once covered virtually all of the British Isles.