Talia Randall talks to the nature-loving pioneers who are smashing down the barriers–visible and invisible–that keep so many of us locked out of green space. From a park in Glasgow, to a beach in Cornwall and a Traveller site by an A road in London.
Nature can help us work out who we are. Take Ione, a British-Mexican land worker who finally understood what it meant to have a mixed identity when she saw a Mexican plant growing in English soil. As a kid, Talia broke into the nature reserve on her council estate. Some call this trespassing, others call it playing out. Which children are allowed to play in nature freely and which kids are seen as a threat? Now that Talia isn’t that kid anymore, she reflects on her own relationship to nature, has it changed as her class has?
Talia Randall talks to the nature-loving pioneers who are smashing down the barriers–visible and invisible–that keep so many of us locked out of green space. From a park in Glasgow, to a beach in Cornwall and a Traveller site by an A road in London.
Nature can help us work out who we are. Take Ione, a British-Mexican land worker who finally understood what it meant to have a mixed identity when she saw a Mexican plant growing in English soil. As a kid, Talia broke into the nature reserve on her council estate. Some call this trespassing, others call it playing out. Which children are allowed to play in nature freely and which kids are seen as a threat? Now that Talia isn’t that kid anymore, she reflects on her own relationship to nature, has it changed as her class has?
When someone described Talia Randall’s council estate as ‘the road with the most burnt-out cars in London’, she was baffled. Why not describe the blossom trees in the front gardens, blushing pink every Spring? Why had they overlooked nature and beauty and focused only on the grime?
In the first episode of ‘Blossom Trees and Burnt Out-Cars’ Talia explores if access to nature is linked to social status. With 1 in 5 people unable to access green space she asks, who has the keys that unlock those gates? Talia meets beekeeper Carole Wright, who runs ‘Blak Outside’ and is helping to connect working class people to green spaces. In Leeds, she finds Mothin Ali, a YouTube gardener who started ‘Dig it Out’ to tackle racism in horticulture.
Produced, Written and Presented by Talia Randall Researcher: Erica McKoy Contributors: Mothin Ali, Carole Wright Production Mentor: Anna Buckley Tech Producer: Gayl Gordon Executive Producers: Khaliq Meer & Leanne Alie Commissioned for BBC Sounds Audio Lab by Khaliq Meer Artwork by: Mike Massaro