“It’s really important that I get outside, out of the fluorescent lights, out of my uniform, and chase my own dreams and chase my own wants and desires outside of the career that I love so much.”

Sarah Barker says that she can’t fully explain what it is about Kinder Scout that she loves so much but she thinks it’s because it makes her feel a certain way. It feels safe one minute and threatening another and she likes the challenge of both those places.

In the first part of this interview you'll listen to Sarah talking about her first wildcamp on Kinder Scout and why she leaves the comfort of her family home to go out alone in nature to spend a night on a local hill or mountain. We recorded this part while hunkered down in the porch of her tent on Grindslow Knoll until we gave in to the howling wind and cold to the warmth of a log fire in my bungalow in Edale village.

In the second half of the interview, Sarah shares why she started her YouTube channel which beautifully documents her wildcamping trips, how she learned navigation skills and of course what makes her Wild About Kinder.

Sarah's biography

Sarah is a Midwife, she chose this career path because she has an innate passion and drive for nurturing people. Supporting families through vulnerable life events is at the core of who she is and she gains a great deal of satisfaction from caring for birthing people as they become families. 

She lives with her Husband, teenage children and 4 dachshunds near the Peak District and has recently been working on renovating her forever home. 

She has a YouTube channel with over 3000 subscribers and 74 videos published to date. She started filming her camping adventures in 2024 and now believes that her videos have become an important extension to her camps to keep them alive for longer. The unique connections that she has made with ‘the best friends she may never meet’ continues to bring her joy and is highly motivating for herself and for others who either wish to explore the outdoors themselves or do so already. This diary of memories will continue to build throughout her exploration of the Peak District predominantly and become a legacy to her family when she is no longer able to do it.

Links

Subscribe to Sarah’s YouTube channel: SoloSarahB

Follow Sarah on Instagram: solosarahbx

Written feature on Wild About Kinder website: "A Tidy Mind on Kinder Scout" - by Sarah Barker

References

Patrick Dickinson

Andrew Beavers

Mountain Walks Kinder Scout book - by Sarah Lister

Recording date

This interview was recorded on Grindslow Knoll and later at my home in Edale on 19th December 2024.

Host & Production

By Sarah Lister, About The Adventure

Contact the host

You can email [email protected] to send in your comments and suggestions.

Get involved with the conversation

Send in your own Kinder Scout stories on the Wild About Kinder website and contact the show host to send in your comments, questions and suggestions.

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