In this new series, Martha Kearney explores the importance of the natural world in the lives of her guests.
Each person she meets takes her to a location which means something to them, and describes the role nature has played in their life, explaining how it has shaped, influenced or fascinated them.
In the process she gains surprising new insights from some well-known faces - from Cate Blanchett, who talks about her love of bee-keeping, to Martin Clunes, who takes Martha on a walk with his five dogs before rolling up his sleeves to scrub his horse's hooves in preparation for the village show. Delia Smith, James Dyson, Adjoa Andoh and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall are all on Martha's guest list.
This series celebrates the power and mystery of the natural world, and finds reasons to be optimistic about its future.
In this new series, Martha Kearney explores the importance of the natural world in the lives of her guests.
Each person she meets takes her to a location which means something to them, and describes the role nature has played in their life, explaining how it has shaped, influenced or fascinated them.
In the process she gains surprising new insights from some well-known faces - from Cate Blanchett, who talks about her love of bee-keeping, to Martin Clunes, who takes Martha on a walk with his five dogs before rolling up his sleeves to scrub his horse's hooves in preparation for the village show. Delia Smith, James Dyson, Adjoa Andoh and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall are all on Martha's guest list.
This series celebrates the power and mystery of the natural world, and finds reasons to be optimistic about its future.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is a chef, broadcaster, author and campaigner. His 'River Cottage' series ran for more than ten years on Channel 4 and he has written more than twenty food and cookery books. In this programme Martha Kearney catches up with Hugh at an event at the Abergavenny Food Festival. He tells her how his love affair with the countryside started at the age of five when his parents left London and moved to a farmhouse in Gloucestershire. He recalls a fascination with the natural world in his early years, remembering a childhood spent roaming the fields and collecting birds' eggs, and recounting an incident in which he accidentally squashed a lizard while trying to put it into a biscuit tin. As a student he intended to work in wildlife conservation and had hopes of becoming the next David Attenborough, before a job at River Café set him on a different path. The natural world still fascinates and inspires him today. He tells Martha about the emotional hold it has over him, describing a time during lockdown when he was moved to tears of joy by seeing the blue flash of a kingfisher.#
Photo copyright Abergavenny Food Festival, photographer Tim Woodier.
Producer: Emma Campbell