Oxfordshire Limited Edition – August 2019

22 |OxfordshireLimitedEdition|August 2019

Whatadvicewouldyougivetoparents
aboutgettingtheirchildreninterestedin
nature?
Findsomethingthatyouasanadultlike
todo.Althoughweallgotoplacesand
shoochildrenofftoplay,Ithinkitmakes
abigdifferenceifyoudemonstratewhat
enjoymentoutdoorslookslike.Itmight
notlightthemupstraightaway,but
soontheywillseehowtoappreciatethe
outdoors,eitherjoiningyouinyourhobbyor
somethingsimilaroftheirown.Iremember
interviewingTimBaillie,TeamGBgold
medallistinslalomcanoeing.
Iaskedhimwhenhefirstrealisedhewas
goodatcanoeingandhesaidthathis
parentshadenjoyedthesportthemselves
andtakenhimalongfromtwoyearsoldso
hecouldn’tnotbegoodatit.Howgreat
isthat?

Whatdoyouthinkissospecialabout
theEnglishcountryside?
Theyearroundshadesofgreen.Ittakesa
lotofwatertoachievethatasweallknow.
Butwhentheweatherisonoursideand
wegettoimmerseourselvesinallthegreen
hues,it’saveryspecialplace.It’saclassicline
whenyouleavetheairportafteryourholiday

• “doesn’teverythinglooksogreen?”

Youobviouslylovebeinginthe
countryside,butyourjobandprofile
meanyougettogotosomeniceglitzy
events–doyouhaveanyfavourite
fashionlabels?What’sbeenyour
favouriteeveroutfitforanevent?
It’snotasglitzyasyou’dimagine!ButIlove
classicbeautifulRalphLauren.
IquitelikewearingoldpiecesthatIhave
foundsecondhand.Whenwegota
Children’sBAFTAforourwildlifeseries,I
woreagoldtunicthatI’dfoundinacharity
shopinToronto.

Andanyotherlabelsyoulovetowear
day-to-day?
Day-to-dayImostlywearskirtsandboots.
Butwithfilming,it’sallaboutbeingpractical
anduntilyou’vehitthetopofthemooror
theclifftop,youwon’tknowwhatlayering
isrequiredsothepresentersandcrewoften
havewhatlooklikeexcessiveluggagewith
us.IwearAigle,MammutandStagbeetle
quiteabit.
What’syourone“desertisland”beauty
product?
Vaselineasunder-eyecream.Cheap!

What’sonesmallthingwecoulddoto

helpwildlifeinourgardens,villages,

townsetc?

Thetwomostdependablefactorswhenit

comestowildlifeinyourgardenaretrees

andwater.Treesallowpartsofagardento

bedamperanddarkerwhichisimportant

forinvertebratesatatleastonestageof

theirlifecycle.Theyalsoprovideagreat

aboutofspaceforwildlife.Andwaterwill

attractasurprisingarrayofwildlife:deerwill

comeinforadrink,somebeesandbirds

willusethemudfornestsand,ifyoumake

itfishfree,youwillhaveincrediblyvaried

pondlife.It’salsoimportanttotrytogarden

withoutchemicals.Whatyou’rereallytrying

todoisgardenforinvertebrates.When

they’rehealthyandingoodnumbers,the

foundationofthefoodchainisinplace.

WherecanwefindyouatCountryfile

Live?

IwillmostlybeintheWildlifeZoneandon

theMainStage.

‘Althoughweallgo

toplacesandshoo

childrenofftoplay,

Ithinkitmakesa

bigdifferenceifyou

demonstratewhat

enjoymentoutdoors

lookslike’