A Life More Wild

Latest Episodes:

The Drag Queen Gardener on allotments, break-ups and the benefits of gardening Jul 05, 2023

Show notes

What’s the best thing to do when you’re going through a bad breakup? How about get an allotment, develop a love of gardening and find yourself an entirely new career? Well, it worked for Tom Leonard, who, in a matter if months went from knowing nothing about plants to professional garden design and appearing at Chelsea Flower Show as his alter ego, Daisy Desire, aka The Drag Queen Gardener.

Join Tom now for a sunny stroll round Birmingham Botanical Gardens, where they learnt their trade, saw how beneficial gardening could be for mental health… and worked out the one single thing without which, a garden isn’t really a garden at all.

A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production and sound recording by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

Liv Little on creativity, loss and grounding herself by the sea Jun 21, 2023

Show notes

Liv Little often found herself asked to speak on behalf of all marginalised voices, as the only person of colour in the room… so she decided to build her own room. She founded Gal Dem magazine, a place and community where anyone could talk not just about their trauma, but about their joys and passions. It was the creation of a home that helped and inspired many people over the eight years for which it ran. She then took that search spiritual, emotional home as the theme for her debut novel, Rosewater.

Join Liv now for a walk along the kent coast, as she talks about creativity, loss, grounding herself by the sea… and trying to keep her socks dry

A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. The producers for this episode were Gareth Evans and Clarissa Maycock. Sound recording by Marnie Woodmeade. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

Banjo Beale on drunk botanists, interior design and carrying an antique apothecary cabinet up a coast path Jun 07, 2023

Show notes

Most of us probably feel pretty proud of ourselves if we manage to put up a shelf that's reasonably straight. So imagine how great it would feel to refurbish a lighthouse at the end of a narrow cliffside path on the Isle of Mull off the west coast of Scotland. Interior designer Banjo Beale, whom you may remember as the winner of the show Interior Design Masters, or his own programme Designing the Hebrides, knows exactly how great that felt. At least once all the heavy lifting was done.

Join him on the lighthouse path on Mull, winding along past stunning views of the sea and distant misty hills. Enjoy the scenery. And remember to be thankful when the wind gets up that you're not carrying an antique apothecary cabinet.

A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. The producers for this episode were Gareth Evans and Clarissa Maycock. Sound recording by Pennie Stuart. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

Nick Hayes on the Right to Roam, silt witches and getting arrested May 24, 2023

Show notes

This time we join Nick Hayes. He’s one of the most prominent voices of the campaign for the Right to Roam in England and author of The Book of Trespass. He’s also an illustrator and musician who thinks that our broken relationship with nature is bound up with the loss of our cultural heritage.

Join Nick on a stroll through the countryside from his boat on a quiet part of the Thames up to some sheltered hilltop woods, crossing two very differently managed estates and at least one forbidden fence line, as he explains how he’s going to get arrested this summer, and what success for the Right to Roam campaign would look like.

A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. The producers for this episode were Gareth Evans and Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

Charlotte Church on woodlands, waterfalls and listening to nature May 10, 2023

Show notes

We're back for series 3 and for our first wander we're in a wooded Welsh valley with Charlotte Church. Famous since the age of 11, it's a wonder she doesn't just want to shut the whole world out and shut the whole world out and live in peace but actually she's doing the opposite. Driven by a desire to give something back and help people facing mental and emotional struggle, she's opened the Dreaming - a wellness retreat deep in the valleys of rural mid Wales.

In this episode we join Charlotte amongst the woodlands and waterfalls of her retreat as she explains the journey that bought her here and what she hopes others will experience when they visit.

A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. The producers for this episode were Gareth Evans and Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

Series three... coming soon May 03, 2023

Show notes

A Life More Wild is back with a whole new group of fascinating people taking you out into nature.

We'll be joining Charlotte Church at her new wellness retreat in a lush Welsh Valley, reclaiming our right to roam with author and campaigner, Nick Hayes in some forbidden parts of a Berkshire estate and heading out eagle spotting with wildlife cameraman and presenter Hamza Yassin.

Join us for series three and explore from the Western Isles to the Cornish Coast in the company of inspiring people connected to those places.

Bonus episode: George Clarke on utopian towns and secret projects Oct 20, 2022

Show notes

Our final episode of series 2 of A Life More wild sees us chatting to George Clarke about his humble beginnings creating treehouses as a kid, and the journey it took to building some of his more famous creations. Our very own Siri Thomas gets George chatting about nature in the city, inspiration for his recent work, and even, a little teaser for what’s to come…

As we weren't able to get out in the wild and record this one with George, it takes a slightly different format to normal but it was such a lovely chat that we just had to share. The 10th anniversary series of George Clarke's Amazing Spaces is due early in 2023.

A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. The producers for this episode were Gareth Evans and Eliza Lomas. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

Bonus episode: 24 hours in 24 minutes, a sensory nature meditation experience Oct 05, 2022

Show notes

Wake to birdsong, walk in the woods, forage as you go, then dip into a stream to cool off before you head back to sit round the crackling fire. Leave feeling calm, connected and soothed by nature.

This week we're bringing you a slightly different sort of episode. Earlier this summer we hosted the Slow Down and Relax Tipi at Fearne Cotton's Happy Place festival and ran a number of sensory nature workshops. We received lots of positive feedback about the workshop and people asked if we could share it, so here it is.

Find a cosy spot, get comfortable and if you've got an eye mask feel free to pop it on.

Narrated by Rebecca Dennis (@breathing.tree) author of Let It Go and Breathe - A Practical Guide To Breathwork: www.instagram.com/breathing.tree/

Resetting, reinventing and growing - Sophie Morgan and Alice Vincent Aug 18, 2022

Show notes

We took a trip around Southwark Park with TV presenter and award-winning disability advocate Sophie Morgan. We talked about growing up wild, how her relationship with nature has changed, and if she was a tree, what tree she would be. We also speak to author and passionate gardener Alice Vincent, about the single flower that inspired her to a life of growing and how to work with any size of space.

You can watch Sophie's show 'Living Wild: How To Change Your Life' on Channel 4 here, and check out her book 'Driving Forwards' here.

Alice's book is called 'Rootbound' and is out now

A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. The producers for this episode were Gareth Evans and Eliza Lomas. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

214 peaks and an 830km swim - Russ Moorhouse and Lisa Shaw Aug 04, 2022

Show notes

We go for a walk in the Lake District with Russ Moorhouse, who points out a fraction of the 214 Wainwright Fells he wild camped on in an epic year-long adventure. We also talk to Lisa Shaw, who has taken on the impressive challenge of swimming round all the Balearic islands. Both find a calm in nature that they know nowhere else.

A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. The producers for this episode were Gareth Evans and Eliza Lomas. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.

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