By chance, my new beginning with the Trust coincided with the arrival of spring and the ending of restrictions. For me, my memories of that hopeful time are centred on one very special place: Grow Wilder, the Trust’s urban wildlife site and wildflower nursery in Bristol. Put simply, I was bowled over by it.
It was part of my job to tell the story of Grow Wilder to the world, and I couldn’t wait to get started. Having had a career spanning 20 years at the BBC, much of it with the popular BBC One show Countryfile, I knew what a rare treat it was to find somewhere with as many good stories as Grow Wilder, which feels unique, but is also joyfully universal. The question was, where to start?
Of course, there’s only one place to start, and that’s with nature, because nature’s recovery constitutes Grow Wilder’s beating heart. The site has been dedicated to food-growing for over a century, and yet it is no agricultural desert. On the contrary, the amount of biodiversity is extraordinary. In spring and summer, wildflowers abound, and bees feast with abandon. Our ponds hum with life, and the demonstration areas enable us to show our many visitors just how easy it is to create wildlife-friendly habitats in the smallest of gardens. I have had the pleasure of sharing news, videos and photos on social media of species from voles to foxes, from stoats to the rarely-spotted winter moth.
Meanwhile, the wildflower nursery has gone from strength to strength, despite the pandemic. Back in 2020, over 17,000 plants were planted by our customers, and online orders proved an unexpected hit. Now, our wildflower plants are in high demand by many local authorities, proving the message is getting through that, for nature’s recovery to happen, it can’t just be on reserves – road verges, public land and field edges must all play their part.
Nature doesn’t just heal wildlife: it also heals us, and Grow Wilder is proof of that. Nature truly can fix broken hearts and rebuild mental health, and I have been privileged to meet people who will happily point to Grow Wilder’s role in their recovery journey.
Lastly, in a world where we so often despair of uncaring global supply chains, Grow Wilder offers a model of hope. Our land partners provide local employment and create produce with few food miles and a commitment to organic principles. Vegetable growers, a herbalist, a woodturner and a herd of goats co-exist as harmoniously as the voles, stoats, bees and moths. They are businesses, and yet they are a community too. Our herbalist, Chris Roe, helps milk the goats. Our woodturner, Geoff Hannis, can regularly be seen sharing a cup of tea with the volunteers in the nursery.
On a good day, Grow Wilder feels like the future, and that’s why it’s so important that we achieve our goal of establishing a new onsite community space by introducing a new building that will help to engage and inspire more people and businesses to actively support nature’s recovery.
Through demonstration, learning and events, the dream is that Grow Wilder will become a hub from which we will seek to connect people with nature, equipping them with the skills to restore and conserve natural habitats of all sizes across the Bristol area and further afield. Last year we made fantastic strides towards our goal, but there is still more to do. We are hopeful we will reach our target in 2022, because our communities and our wildlife have never needed this more.
It's not surprising that I have long harboured a dream to bring Grow Wilder to the attention of the nation by getting it on the BBC’s Countryfile, where I had worked for so many years. Happily, as I come to the end of my time at the Trust, my dream is coming true. This week’s Countryfile programme will focus on Grow Wilder and its staff and volunteers, shining a light on a place that has brought hope to so many and, with luck, will yet bring hope to so many more. I hope that if you tune in you’ll be inspired, just as I have, to support our wonderful site in achieving its true potential.Â
Countryfile is on BBC One at 5.10pm, Sunday 16 January.