Xanthe Ross went to Wales to get out of London for a while. She pottered around in her parents’ walled garden, trying her hand at growing some herbs and vegetables. A few years later, she’s released her first cookbook on the back of hosting the most sought after supper clubs in the city.

Join Xanthe now, back in that same walled garden, as she picks up some ingredients, makes a simple bruschetta style snack and looks back on a journey that took her from barely knowing how to cook, to hosting huge food events.

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.

Welcome to Quick Strolls, shorter walks with guests from A Life More Wild. In this episode, we look at how nature has helped some of our guests through the toughest moments of their lives.

There's an enormous amount of science surrounding the psychological benefits of being in nature, so much so that at times it can feel as if the whole idea has become over complicated. But as we found from so many guests on a life more wild, it really is simple to make yourself feel a little bit better.

Nature isn't the whole of the answer, but it is a start, or at least a place to find one.

Artist and architect Claudia Robalino grew up in Ecuador, with volcanoes, the ocean and the Amazon giving her a powerful connection to nature. It was only when she moved to London however, that she realised how much a part of her it was.

Join Claudia now in Battersea Park, as she talks about finding new ways to create that connection and how the contrast between those two worlds has inspired her art and her work.

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.

One thing that comes up time and again on A Life More Wild is access to nature. Something that many of us take for granted was, to a lot of our guests, a complex social and cultural issue that had shaped their lives and work. On this Quick Stroll, we hear from Mya Rose-Craig, Lira Valencia and Ollie Olanipekun of Flock Together, on the challenges they faced from the traditional culture of the outdoors and how they each went about changing it.

Dwayne Fields moved to London from Jamaica when he was just a child. The contrast between the two places was almost too much for him to handle until a chance encounter gave him hope, a sense of belonging and eventually a purpose that would see him becoming the UK’s Chief Scout.

Join Dwayne now in Nene Park, a place that holds fond memories for him, as he looks back on an incredible journey that took him from Hackney to the North Pole, and forwards to a future inspiring the next generation to love the natural world.

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.

It’s time to step back outside. A Life More Wild returns for season 5, when we’ll be taking a walk with more fascinating people and chatting about their connection to nature.

Episode one will be out on 20th March and we’ll be bringing you a calm stroll and a chat every month for the rest of the year.

Ollie Olanipekun first met Nadeem Parera on Instagram, where they bonded over a love of birds. Realising how rare it was to see people of colour engaged with nature in the UK, they formed a walking group. One terrible flyer and a few years of enormous effort later, Flock Together has branches around the world, providing people with a place to meet and common ground.

Join Ollie and Nadeem now, on the site of the very first Flock Together walk, as they discuss how their different backgrounds gave them the same mission, how mad it is to see a heron beat up a rat and whether or not they might one day get to name a new bird species.

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 James Wong first visited Kew Gardens, he asked his mum if this was what heaven looked like. The ethnobotanist, born and raised in Singapore, can barely remember a time when he wasn’t fascinated by plants, a love which has led him around the world, onto TV and into a flat that looks like a jungle.

Join James now, in Kew Gardens, as he talks about integrating plant life into our own lives, the leaf that inspired a generation of builders and how he ruins films for his friends.

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.

Venetia La Manna loves clothes, but knows more than most about the evils of fashion. For years, she’s been campaigning to change one of the most unregulated industries in the world - fighting over production and underpayment of garment workers around the world.

Join Venetia now on a walk through the Heavens, near Stroud, where a community-driven success story perfectly demonstrates her belief in the power of collective action to have a global impact.

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 she was 16, Lise Wortley read a book by the explorer Alexandra David-Neel, who had undertaken a 14-year journey through Asia. The idea of it stayed with her until ten years later, when she was searching for a way to improve her mental health. It dawned on her that David-Neel and other female adventurers like Nan Shepherd and Henriette D’Angeville, were far less well-known than their male counterparts. She set out to change that, by the incredible method of recreating their journeys, in the clothing they wore at the time. 

Join Lise now in the Cairngorms, to hear her stories of spending a month walking in the tweeds and poncho tent that Nan shepherd wore, travelling in David-Neel’s yak wool coat and preparing for an ascent of Mont Blanc in Henriette D’angeville’s tiny shoes.

Lise is an ambassador for Passenger Clothing a responsible outdoor clothing brand with a mission to inspire meaningful escapism. This summer we’ve been working with them on a few different exciting projects including a series of videos with some of this season’s podcast guests. We’ve also teamed up to create a pop-up holiday bus in the Lake District. Thank you to them for sponsoring this podcast episode.

https://www.passenger-clothing.com/

https://www.canopyandstars.co.uk/britain/england/cumbria/hinterlandes/little-firs-from-passenger

https://www.instagram.com/woman_with_altitude/

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.