A Life More Wild

You often hear people talk about how getting out into nature gives them a change of perspective. But what happens when your profession is nature on the biggest possible scale? Dr Becky Smethhurst is an astrophysicist, author and YouTuber who studies supermassive blackholes and galaxy formation, but says that rather than making her feel small, it does exactly the opposite… Join Becky now for an evening stroll around a nature reserve near the South Downs, as she gives a few pointers on spotting planets, explains what the movies get wrong and dodges a swan…A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten. 

When Freya Bromley first discovered tidal pools, she was dealing with the turmoil of grief. Those patches of calm water, surrounded by volatile seas, felt like places of refuge. From a single experience came a mission to swim every tidal pool in Britain, but while she went looking for healing, she found so much more. Join Freya now for a dip in Margate’s two tidal pools and a discussion of connection, community and underwater screaming on the walk between the two.  A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten. 

A few years ago, a walk on the south west coastal path opened Katharine May up to a whole new world.   She began to think about reconnecting with nature, and how it was the antidote to everything from anxiety to writer’s block. She even shaped her best selling book, Wintering, around the elements. Join Katherine now on the seafront in Whitstable, as she talks about inspiration, how much she would like to buy a beach hut, and why we should all love winter.  A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Sound recording by Marnie Woodmeade, production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

On a trip to Greenland, Jack Harries saw a huge chunk of ice break off a glacier and crash into the sea. Already a keen film maker with an interest in travel, he knew then what he wanted to dedicate his life to - telling the stories of climate change. Years later, he’s been all over the world, finding the people most affected by the climate crisis and giving them a voice in his documentary series A Seat at The Table.Join Jack now, on a warm day in London’s Victoria Park, as he discusses the power of community activism, the need for storytelling and completely fluffing his lines when he met Barack Obama.A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Sound recording by Alannah Chance, production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

What’s the best thing to do when you’re going through a bad breakup? How about get an allotment, develop a love of gardening and find yourself an entirely new career? Well, it worked for Tom Leonard, who, in a matter if months went from knowing nothing about plants to professional garden design and appearing at Chelsea Flower Show as his alter ego, Daisy Desire, aka The Drag Queen Gardener. Join Tom now for a sunny stroll round Birmingham Botanical Gardens, where they learnt their trade, saw how beneficial gardening could be for mental health… and worked out the one single thing without which, a garden isn’t really a garden at all.A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production and sound recording by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

Liv Little often found herself asked to speak on behalf of all marginalised voices, as the only person of colour in the room… so she decided to build her own room. She founded Gal Dem magazine, a place and community where anyone could talk not just about their trauma, but about their joys and passions. It was the creation of a home that helped and inspired many people over the eight years for which it ran. She then took that search spiritual, emotional home as the theme for her debut novel, Rosewater.Join Liv now for a walk along the kent coast, as she talks about creativity, loss, grounding herself by the sea… and trying to keep her socks dry A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. The producers for this episode were Gareth Evans and Clarissa Maycock. Sound recording by Marnie Woodmeade. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

Most of us probably feel pretty proud of ourselves if we manage to put up a shelf that's reasonably straight. So imagine how great it would feel to refurbish a lighthouse at the end of a narrow cliffside path on the Isle of Mull off the west coast of Scotland. Interior designer Banjo Beale, whom you may remember as the winner of the show Interior Design Masters, or his own programme Designing the Hebrides, knows exactly how great that felt. At least once all the heavy lifting was done. Join him on the lighthouse path on Mull, winding along past stunning views of the sea and distant misty hills. Enjoy the scenery. And remember to be thankful when the wind gets up that you're not carrying an antique apothecary cabinet. A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. The producers for this episode were Gareth Evans and Clarissa Maycock. Sound recording by Pennie Stuart. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

This time we join Nick Hayes. He’s one of the most prominent voices of the campaign for the Right to Roam in England and author of The Book of Trespass. He’s also an illustrator and musician who thinks that our broken relationship with nature is bound up with the loss of our cultural heritage.Join Nick on a stroll through the countryside from his boat on a quiet part of the Thames up to some sheltered hilltop woods, crossing two very differently managed estates and at least one forbidden fence line, as he explains how he’s going to get arrested this summer, and what success for the Right to Roam campaign would look like.A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. The producers for this episode were Gareth Evans and Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

We're back for series 3 and for our first wander we're in a wooded Welsh valley with Charlotte Church. Famous since the age of 11, it's a wonder she doesn't just want to shut the whole world out and shut the whole world out and live in peace but actually she's doing the opposite. Driven by a desire to give something back and help people facing mental and emotional struggle, she's opened the Dreaming - a wellness retreat deep in the valleys of rural mid Wales.In this episode we join Charlotte amongst the woodlands and waterfalls of her retreat as she explains the journey that bought her here and what she hopes others will experience when they visit. A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. The producers for this episode were Gareth Evans and Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

A Life More Wild is back with a whole new group of fascinating people taking you out into nature.We'll be joining Charlotte Church at her new wellness retreat in a lush Welsh Valley, reclaiming our right to roam with author and campaigner, Nick Hayes in some forbidden parts of a Berkshire estate and heading out eagle spotting with wildlife cameraman and presenter Hamza Yassin.Join us for series three and explore from the Western Isles to the Cornish Coast in the company of inspiring people connected to those places.