Space to recover

As we step cautiously out of lockdown it can be concerning to hear about crowds gathering in parks, beaches and public spaces in apparent defiance of the current set of rules. I was discussing this with one of my allotment neighbours recently, ‘But we have space,’ she observed. ‘We have our gardens and allotments and we live in a rural area. Imagine living in a tiny flat in a city with little access to green space and being in lockdown for months. It must have been hell! We are the lucky ones.’ Indeed we are.

I was reminded of an item on Gardeners’ World recently in which JJ Chalmers’ spoke of his long connection with Pittencrieff Park near his home in Fife, Scotland and the importance of the outdoor space to his mental and physical well-being. This has been significant not only during lockdown but throughout his life. Chalmers, now known for his run to the quarter-final of Strictly Come Dancing, his work as a television presenter and as an Invictus games gold medal winner, is an ex-Marine who was seriously injured by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.

Pittencrieff Park is a seventy-six acre mixture of formal and informal gardens, wild flower borders and woodland and was Chalmers’ playground in his formative years. It gave him a love of the outdoors and a taste for adventure that eventually led to him joining the Marines. Little did he realise that the park was to become instrumental in recovering from his injuries.

Chalmers was hospitalised for six weeks. The clinical sterility of hospital, where even a potted plant is seen as a potential for contamination, was completely alien to him. He dreamed of being able return to Pittencrieff Park. After leaving hospital his rehabilitation began in earnest and exercise in the park became part of his daily routine. At first the paths and steps that he had explored effortlessly as a child were challenging but day by day he was able to walk farther and tackle steeper terrains.

The sounds and sites of the park were a powerful force, helping to heal his mind as well as his body and giving him confidence to seek a new direction in his life. Chalmers became involved in the Invictus games. He took up recumbant cycling (trikes for grown-ups as he describes them) and the park was there for him again, this time as his training ground. And again it served him well as he won a gold medal in his chosen event. The soldier had become a sportsman.

Now he faces what he describes as his greatest challenge: being a parent. His children now enjoy Pittencrieff Park much as he did and he is able to share their experience. Their visits are often based around a mighty lime tree, which serves as their castle, their space ship or whatever else is needed for the day’s adventure. His daughter has learned to ride her bike on the paths he practised on his trike.

Though very different from JJ Chalmers’ experience, I underwent a traumatic period myself last year. As I said in my earlier post, Putting 2020 to bed, being able to escape to an outdoor space was vital to my recovery too. My refuge was our garden and allotment. These were the places where I was able to appreciate the fresh air, feel the sun and the wind and listen to the busy chatter of hedge sparrows.

I became aware of an interesting, but equally beneficial, contrast in gardening too. On one hand I was able to lose myself in the vastness and beauty of nature, on the other I was able to relax my mind in the repetitive yet mesmeric task of weeding. Beyond the ability to recognise a weed when you see one, weeding cannot be described as a job that requires a great deal of skill or concentration but it does require attention. I found a quiet contentment in working my way along each raised bed. Weed by weed, inch by inch I made progress on the bed and in my recovery.

Whilst my refuge now is the allotment, I was brought up in a village on the border of Somerset and Wiltshire where my playground was an area charmingly named Rockabella. With open fields, trees, ponds, a river and ruined mills it was an ideal playground. On an average day we might fish for minnows and bullheads in the morning, repel invading armies in the afternoon and fly our oak tree rocket to the moon after tea. We spent uncountable hours outdoors and the influence of nature has always stayed with me.

As we come out of lockdown we will be able to travel farther and explore more and perhaps we will all appreciate our open spaces and closeness to nature more than ever. Stay safe, be kind to nature and to each other and spare a thought for those who have coped with this crisis in more difficult circumstances than your own.