1 00:00:40,272 --> 00:00:42,573 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Hello and welcome to Nature Fix with me, 2 00:00:42,753 --> 00:00:46,435 Claire Hickinbotham. Every month we take you with us as we meet 3 00:00:46,436 --> 00:00:49,876 the people who spend their time outside and join them in a place 4 00:00:49,936 --> 00:00:51,377 that most inspires them. 5 00:00:52,757 --> 00:00:56,579 Today I'm in South Yorkshire to meet gardener Katie Mackinder as 6 00:00:56,580 --> 00:01:00,265 she helps host three choirs and creative groups in a celebration 7 00:01:00,365 --> 00:01:04,127 of nature, spring and blossom at Wentworth Castle Gardens. 8 00:01:04,927 --> 00:01:07,809 Alongside Katie, I meet some of the people whose lives have been 9 00:01:07,849 --> 00:01:11,210 transformed by being part of the choirs, as they sing their 10 00:01:11,270 --> 00:01:15,053 hearts out in the newly redesigned and replanted Union 11 00:01:15,133 --> 00:01:15,733 Jack Garden. 12 00:01:26,879 --> 00:01:30,486 So I've come today to Wentworth Gardens in the north of England. 13 00:01:30,486 --> 00:01:35,527 I've come along the M1, past Sheffield, past Barnsley and 14 00:01:35,528 --> 00:01:39,069 I've driven into this amazing space that's home to a college 15 00:01:39,890 --> 00:01:42,992 and these wonderful gardens that I'm visiting today. 16 00:01:42,992 --> 00:01:47,114 And it's a massive great house that the college is based in, at 17 00:01:47,115 --> 00:01:50,756 the centre of these gardens, and it's quite a unique place 18 00:01:50,876 --> 00:01:54,798 because already the area is shared with the college and the 19 00:01:54,799 --> 00:01:58,552 gardens are looked after by the Trust but they work with a lot 20 00:01:58,572 --> 00:02:01,675 of people from the Barnsley/Sheffield areas who 21 00:02:01,735 --> 00:02:04,196 come here and help look after the gardens. 22 00:02:05,077 --> 00:02:08,479 And this place is home to a very unique garden, the Union Jack 23 00:02:08,580 --> 00:02:11,502 Garden. And I kind of assumed it would be planted up red, white 24 00:02:11,503 --> 00:02:14,584 and blue, but it's the aerial view that gives it its name. 25 00:02:14,864 --> 00:02:19,147 And what they're doing here is they've divided up the space 26 00:02:19,207 --> 00:02:22,770 into the triangular sections and different people look after 27 00:02:22,810 --> 00:02:23,590 different sections. 28 00:02:24,411 --> 00:02:27,049 Some of those people are here today to perform in a day of 29 00:02:27,089 --> 00:02:29,731 celebration so there's going to be lots of singing, lots of 30 00:02:29,751 --> 00:02:33,635 chatting, lots of laughing. So let's go and find out a bit 31 00:02:33,695 --> 00:02:33,915 more. 32 00:02:39,801 --> 00:02:42,664 I've had a little wander around but grab a gap between sets to 33 00:02:42,704 --> 00:02:45,867 catch up with Katie Mackinder, a gardener here at Wentworth. 34 00:02:49,164 --> 00:02:50,605 So where are we at the moment? 35 00:02:51,086 --> 00:02:53,708 KATIE MCKINDER: We're currently in the Union Jack Garden. This 36 00:02:53,768 --> 00:02:57,391 is really the centre of our community projects that we're 37 00:02:57,392 --> 00:03:00,013 doing at the minute of the gardens. So it's quite a 38 00:03:00,053 --> 00:03:02,776 community led site actually. 39 00:03:05,638 --> 00:03:08,080 So we've got our event on today which is the Voices Blooming 40 00:03:08,100 --> 00:03:10,822 where we've got three choirs from three different community 41 00:03:10,862 --> 00:03:13,325 groups that have been working with the team to design some of 42 00:03:13,326 --> 00:03:16,828 the segments in This Union Jack Garden and this is a celebration 43 00:03:16,829 --> 00:03:19,009 of that. A celebration of connection to nature. 44 00:03:19,609 --> 00:03:21,891 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So the Union Jack Garden is exactly 45 00:03:22,031 --> 00:03:24,653 kind of what it is if you look at it from a drone point of 46 00:03:24,693 --> 00:03:27,534 view. It's the shape of the Union Jack and those triangular 47 00:03:27,594 --> 00:03:29,956 segments are looked after by different community groups. 48 00:03:30,456 --> 00:03:32,558 KATIE MCKINDER: I think there's 13 segments in total and each 49 00:03:32,618 --> 00:03:36,780 group has allocated one of the gardens team and we basically 50 00:03:36,980 --> 00:03:40,422 help oversee their design process and then the 51 00:03:40,462 --> 00:03:42,744 implementing so each of them had like a budget. 52 00:03:43,204 --> 00:03:45,466 The gardeners are involved but we really try and have a light 53 00:03:45,506 --> 00:03:48,988 touch so that it is definitely what they want and their space. 54 00:03:49,688 --> 00:03:54,452 So some are very like woodlandy sort of nature-based little 55 00:03:54,612 --> 00:03:56,813 animal sculptures more ecologically if you like 56 00:03:56,833 --> 00:03:59,755 wildlife piles, whereas some have a slightly more formal 57 00:03:59,795 --> 00:04:02,077 touch we have like a yin and yang garden which is about 58 00:04:02,117 --> 00:04:05,419 mindfulness it was done by a group of school children and 59 00:04:05,420 --> 00:04:08,681 then we've got the open country segment which is much more about 60 00:04:08,841 --> 00:04:11,563 accessibility so there's different level raised planters. 61 00:04:11,863 --> 00:04:12,584 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Can we have a look at one? 62 00:04:12,864 --> 00:04:16,547 KATIE MCKINDER: Yeah we'll go into the Creative Recovery group 63 00:04:16,987 --> 00:04:18,549 because I do really like this. 64 00:04:18,549 --> 00:04:19,829 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: You're not allowed to have favourites? 65 00:04:19,869 --> 00:04:22,911 KATIE MCKINDER: I know it's not even my group but I feel like 66 00:04:22,912 --> 00:04:26,053 they took the the brief if you like and just really made it 67 00:04:26,054 --> 00:04:26,714 their own. 68 00:04:26,714 --> 00:04:27,675 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And they're one of the groups singing today? 69 00:04:27,675 --> 00:04:29,275 KATIE MCKINDER: They are yeah and they had all the flowers in 70 00:04:29,276 --> 00:04:32,898 the segments and you can see that they've spent time crafting 71 00:04:33,258 --> 00:04:36,080 these little wildlife sculptures that are made out of recycled 72 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:38,962 materials and you do see a lot of butterflies in here 73 00:04:39,022 --> 00:04:40,323 especially early in the season. 74 00:04:40,723 --> 00:04:44,169 We've got a massive philadelphus there at the back that at any 75 00:04:44,230 --> 00:04:46,911 time will be flowering. It has such a nice scent and that was 76 00:04:46,931 --> 00:04:49,273 one of the original plants that was in the segments because they 77 00:04:49,274 --> 00:04:52,595 were all very overgrown so I quite liked that it was kept 78 00:04:52,715 --> 00:04:56,478 actually and adds sort of height in structure to the segment. 79 00:04:56,478 --> 00:04:59,139 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So the garden was completely overgrown? 80 00:04:59,139 --> 00:05:01,389 KATIE MCKINDER: Yeah so there was a previous Trust that had it 81 00:05:01,689 --> 00:05:04,370 and then there was a short period where it was sort of run 82 00:05:04,390 --> 00:05:07,831 on skeleton staff and so there was lots of parts that were sort 83 00:05:07,832 --> 00:05:11,113 of left to, I don't know, do their own thing. 84 00:05:12,593 --> 00:05:14,834 But this is one of the segments, well parts of the garden 85 00:05:14,854 --> 00:05:17,295 actually, that just became massively overgrown. It's got 86 00:05:17,335 --> 00:05:21,017 these mulberries in the centre that each were kept. But yeah, 87 00:05:21,037 --> 00:05:25,218 the philadelphus, roses, a lot of bramble. If you dug down 88 00:05:25,359 --> 00:05:27,059 there was quite a lot of interesting plants but you just 89 00:05:27,099 --> 00:05:28,760 couldn't see the wood for the trees. 90 00:05:29,484 --> 00:05:31,305 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And Creative Recovery are a group 91 00:05:31,465 --> 00:05:35,847 that's based in Barnsley and they. well they help people 92 00:05:35,907 --> 00:05:38,748 recover from whatever it is they want to recover from. by being 93 00:05:38,788 --> 00:05:40,949 creative you know they've got the choir they've got the 94 00:05:40,950 --> 00:05:45,471 garden. I've noticed some rather colourful crape flowers being 95 00:05:45,472 --> 00:05:48,892 carried around as well it's a really interesting approach to 96 00:05:49,673 --> 00:05:53,594 caring for somebody who feels like they need a little bit of 97 00:05:53,614 --> 00:05:54,035 extra help. 98 00:05:54,295 --> 00:05:57,036 KATIE MCKINDER: Yeah and space like I think a lot of people 99 00:05:57,652 --> 00:06:01,133 don't realise that actually you do need to carve the time out 100 00:06:01,153 --> 00:06:04,034 and the space out to process something that you've either 101 00:06:04,074 --> 00:06:06,455 been through or you're recovering from. And actually 102 00:06:06,855 --> 00:06:10,856 this is a physical form of that, having the actual space where 103 00:06:10,876 --> 00:06:11,616 they can come. 104 00:06:11,896 --> 00:06:13,977 And as part of the community partnership group they can just 105 00:06:13,997 --> 00:06:16,438 come and visit that group and come and visit their segment. 106 00:06:17,058 --> 00:06:19,418 And sometimes they'll come and do a little bit of weeding, a 107 00:06:19,419 --> 00:06:21,779 bit of tidying, but sometimes they actually come and do 108 00:06:22,419 --> 00:06:23,120 projects here. 109 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,821 So they did a project like a soundscape and they they wrote a 110 00:06:26,861 --> 00:06:31,064 poem and they used this site to build the soundscape build the 111 00:06:31,084 --> 00:06:35,407 birds and it was this really insightful and yeah poignant 112 00:06:35,427 --> 00:06:38,169 poem that they did and it was really great and this was the 113 00:06:38,189 --> 00:06:39,830 setting so it was nice for that. 114 00:06:39,830 --> 00:06:42,893 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Do you see a difference in people from the 115 00:06:42,953 --> 00:06:45,474 point they first come to the garden through whichever group 116 00:06:45,514 --> 00:06:48,977 they come through to weeks months years later? 117 00:06:48,977 --> 00:06:52,059 KATIE MCKINDER: 100 percent. I think National Trust talk a lot 118 00:06:52,099 --> 00:06:55,401 about spirit of place And this is a site that naturally just 119 00:06:55,421 --> 00:06:55,902 has that. 120 00:06:56,202 --> 00:06:58,484 But there's also an element where the people bring the 121 00:06:58,504 --> 00:07:01,887 spirit of the place. And I think what Wentworth are really 122 00:07:01,927 --> 00:07:06,971 amazing at is really embracing and like enmeshing that sort of 123 00:07:07,051 --> 00:07:11,434 sense of community and that everyone welcome. People really 124 00:07:11,474 --> 00:07:15,638 do feel, I think, at home here and especially in their 125 00:07:15,798 --> 00:07:16,699 particular segment. 126 00:07:16,759 --> 00:07:19,241 You'll often come and just see them reading a book and they're 127 00:07:19,242 --> 00:07:22,423 just completely relaxing, doing their own thing, not being 128 00:07:22,424 --> 00:07:25,245 disturbed, but just knowing that they're welcome and feeling a 129 00:07:25,265 --> 00:07:28,967 real sense of ownership of the site so what more could you ask 130 00:07:28,987 --> 00:07:30,068 for from a project? 131 00:07:30,288 --> 00:07:32,249 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And what about you personally what do you 132 00:07:32,329 --> 00:07:35,671 get out of working in nature was it always a given that you would 133 00:07:36,151 --> 00:07:37,112 go down this route? 134 00:07:37,532 --> 00:07:38,973 KATIE MCKINDER: It's so funny because I think when you ask a 135 00:07:38,974 --> 00:07:41,054 lot of people about gardening they'll often give you a story 136 00:07:41,055 --> 00:07:43,976 of like oh I used to garden with my granddad but I really didn't 137 00:07:44,176 --> 00:07:48,839 have that very much like a city girl growing up but I just had a 138 00:07:48,879 --> 00:07:52,212 feeling that I would just go into it. And so when I was at 139 00:07:52,293 --> 00:07:54,774 uni, even though I did archaeology, I was thinking 140 00:07:54,775 --> 00:07:56,094 about it a lot. 141 00:07:56,534 --> 00:08:01,277 So I did the RHS qualifications alongside my course. I just got 142 00:08:01,297 --> 00:08:03,798 into heritage gardens and then that led me on to maybe more 143 00:08:04,198 --> 00:08:07,179 thinking about ecological gardening and nature-based 144 00:08:07,199 --> 00:08:09,840 gardening, which I definitely think is my preference, and 145 00:08:09,900 --> 00:08:14,082 using nature-based solutions to tackle environmental problems, 146 00:08:14,102 --> 00:08:17,904 but also social and community problems and try and build that 147 00:08:18,124 --> 00:08:20,826 void where there's still such a big gap in access to green 148 00:08:20,866 --> 00:08:21,586 spaces. 149 00:08:21,586 --> 00:08:24,428 So this project especially is amazing for that yeah. 150 00:08:24,428 --> 00:08:25,728 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Sounds like it suits you perfectly? 151 00:08:25,769 --> 00:08:28,950 KATIE MCKINDER: Yeah I think so but yeah I really enjoy it. 152 00:08:28,950 --> 00:08:30,711 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And you've been part of organizing the 153 00:08:30,751 --> 00:08:34,514 event today which is three of the community groups singing and 154 00:08:35,054 --> 00:08:38,456 we've heard some of them they've started already. It just fills 155 00:08:38,457 --> 00:08:40,397 the space so nicely doesn't it? 156 00:08:40,397 --> 00:08:43,519 KATIE MCKINDER: Yeah I think sometimes people feel nature is 157 00:08:43,539 --> 00:08:47,502 separate to us but it's not like we are a species, we are part of 158 00:08:47,522 --> 00:08:47,903 nature. 159 00:08:48,223 --> 00:08:50,526 So actually when you've got the birds singing, when you've got 160 00:08:50,527 --> 00:08:53,289 the humans singing, the little chattering, the laughing, it 161 00:08:53,309 --> 00:08:56,253 builds up this chorus. And it's not been too long since 162 00:08:56,413 --> 00:08:59,156 International Dawn Chorus Day and I think just everyone adds 163 00:08:59,196 --> 00:09:03,001 to it. You get the build-up and the layers and it works so well. 164 00:09:03,021 --> 00:09:04,422 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Oh, brilliant. Thank you so much for 165 00:09:04,442 --> 00:09:04,903 talking to me. 166 00:09:04,904 --> 00:09:05,544 KATIE MCKINDER: No, it's been great. 167 00:09:07,128 --> 00:09:08,469 CHOIR ANNOUNCEMENT: The next song we're going to sing is 168 00:09:08,529 --> 00:09:09,870 called The Tall Trees. 169 00:09:10,031 --> 00:09:13,433 It's The Words by Wendell Berry and it's been set to music by 170 00:09:13,494 --> 00:09:14,695 our very own Kate Thomas. 171 00:09:55,602 --> 00:09:58,503 KATE THOMAS: My name's Kate Thomas and I lead Body Of Sound 172 00:09:58,563 --> 00:09:59,464 Women's Singing Group. 173 00:10:05,375 --> 00:10:10,438 It came about in 1997 when a friend of mine was leading some 174 00:10:10,498 --> 00:10:14,040 singing at another woman's 50th. In the kitchen, the woman said, 175 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:16,881 could you start a women's singing group for us? And so 176 00:10:16,961 --> 00:10:21,524 Helen said, OK. So she started it in 97 and I joined it, 177 00:10:21,884 --> 00:10:25,226 actually, I joined it 25 years ago today, I realised this 178 00:10:25,286 --> 00:10:25,566 morning. 179 00:10:27,988 --> 00:10:32,901 It's... an amazing community. Yeah, it's great to be part of 180 00:10:32,921 --> 00:10:36,002 that. And it's just a really nice bunch of women and it's 181 00:10:36,122 --> 00:10:40,003 really nice when you see somebody new come who thinks, I 182 00:10:40,004 --> 00:10:43,164 can't really sing but I just kind of want to have a go and 183 00:10:43,165 --> 00:10:46,365 then you see them discover that they can sing, that they love it 184 00:10:46,665 --> 00:10:50,246 and they meet this lovely group of women and it's, yeah, it's 185 00:10:50,626 --> 00:10:51,586 just great to be part of. 186 00:10:55,287 --> 00:10:58,148 It's always nice to be outdoors in somewhere beautiful and we... 187 00:10:58,488 --> 00:11:01,650 like a lot of songs to do with the natural world. So, yeah, 188 00:11:01,970 --> 00:11:02,290 it's good. 189 00:11:03,991 --> 00:11:06,372 We've got this song called the May Song, which we always sing 190 00:11:06,392 --> 00:11:10,314 in May, which is just celebrating the Earth circling 191 00:11:10,354 --> 00:11:14,517 into May time. We sang one today called Big Sky, which is all 192 00:11:14,557 --> 00:11:16,858 about sort of taking care of the Earth. 193 00:11:22,021 --> 00:11:24,642 And there's quite a few people in the group involved in various 194 00:11:24,702 --> 00:11:28,556 sort of, you know, climate-supportive stuff. So, 195 00:11:28,816 --> 00:11:31,878 yeah, that's definitely a scene that we like to sing about. 196 00:11:45,928 --> 00:11:48,170 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: After the Body of Sound set, I catch up 197 00:11:48,210 --> 00:11:51,952 with two of the singers, Julia and Carol, who is using a 198 00:11:51,992 --> 00:11:54,754 braille machine during the performance to read the words of 199 00:11:54,755 --> 00:11:55,355 the songs. 200 00:11:56,535 --> 00:11:59,117 CAROL: I'm the only visually impaired person but it's really 201 00:11:59,177 --> 00:12:02,339 nice because everybody makes you feel welcome. It is just a nice 202 00:12:02,359 --> 00:12:05,942 place to be and to be able to go and sing and not have to worry. 203 00:12:06,542 --> 00:12:10,345 It's all women, it's nice to know for one night a week we've 204 00:12:10,346 --> 00:12:12,707 just got all women. We're like a family really. 205 00:12:14,108 --> 00:12:18,070 JULIA: We look after each other and there's no pressure but we 206 00:12:18,150 --> 00:12:23,414 all sort of feel the same about nature and about climate and 207 00:12:23,854 --> 00:12:28,178 just by coincidence, but we all very much be unsafe. 208 00:12:28,179 --> 00:12:30,180 CAROL: And I think there's something about singing isn't 209 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:34,444 there? Something about lifting your mood. 210 00:12:34,524 --> 00:12:36,306 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Other choirs singing today is the 211 00:12:36,426 --> 00:12:39,869 Uplift Choir. It's part of a larger Barnsley group called 212 00:12:39,889 --> 00:12:43,052 Creative Recovery that supports mental health and recovery 213 00:12:43,152 --> 00:12:46,815 through creative endeavours. I speak to Sharon who's a member 214 00:12:46,835 --> 00:12:47,396 of the choir. 215 00:12:48,532 --> 00:12:51,674 I've just been listening to you singing and you finished up on 216 00:12:51,675 --> 00:12:54,876 one of my favourite songs from the musical Annie. It was really 217 00:12:54,896 --> 00:12:57,158 uplifting, I had to tear in my eye because it's such an amazing 218 00:12:57,298 --> 00:12:58,179 song isn't it? 219 00:12:58,659 --> 00:13:00,400 How do you feel when you sing it? 220 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:04,123 SHARON: I'm fortunate that I hadn't lived up here long and 221 00:13:04,183 --> 00:13:07,565 found Creative Recovery that was run in the choir so I've been 222 00:13:07,705 --> 00:13:13,329 going since about 2018 and days like this just uplift you as an 223 00:13:13,349 --> 00:13:16,471 individual and in the group and obviously the people that are 224 00:13:17,051 --> 00:13:20,394 being involved. And it's the fact of coming into nature, 225 00:13:20,554 --> 00:13:23,256 which, again, when you look around is an absolute blessing. 226 00:13:23,416 --> 00:13:25,518 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: I mean, I am beaming, chatting to you. You 227 00:13:25,658 --> 00:13:29,902 are beaming. Your choir is behind you and there's just so 228 00:13:30,022 --> 00:13:32,604 much happiness, isn't there? 229 00:13:32,904 --> 00:13:35,146 SHARON: And it is contagious and contagious in a good way. 230 00:13:36,247 --> 00:13:38,529 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Am I able to ask what your personal reason 231 00:13:38,569 --> 00:13:39,750 for joining the choir was? 232 00:13:40,070 --> 00:13:42,633 SHARON: Yeah, it goes way, way back. I've been under mental 233 00:13:42,673 --> 00:13:47,196 health services since about 2010. But just finding charities 234 00:13:47,216 --> 00:13:49,657 and support networks, and because I worked in the 235 00:13:49,677 --> 00:13:53,759 voluntary sector I'm more drawn towards what they provide, so 236 00:13:53,859 --> 00:13:56,560 finding Creative Recovery and it's not just the choir that's 237 00:13:56,620 --> 00:13:59,561 half and they've got involved in actually doing a part of the 238 00:13:59,581 --> 00:14:02,463 garden up here as well so there's so many different sort 239 00:14:02,464 --> 00:14:05,744 of like routes spreading through as to what they get involved 240 00:14:05,824 --> 00:14:09,666 with and how they can encourage anybody in the community that 241 00:14:09,726 --> 00:14:13,427 may not think that this is for them but it's the opportunity 242 00:14:13,447 --> 00:14:15,328 and the range of finding things out. 243 00:14:16,052 --> 00:14:17,653 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Do you mind me asking you a couple more 244 00:14:17,673 --> 00:14:19,374 questions about your mental health? I know it's a very 245 00:14:19,454 --> 00:14:22,877 personal thing. How did it affect you before you found all 246 00:14:22,897 --> 00:14:23,517 these places? 247 00:14:24,378 --> 00:14:27,420 SHARON: Quite badly, actually. Total isolation, and that's a 248 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:32,183 very common thing. But when you are isolating, the hardest thing 249 00:14:32,223 --> 00:14:35,606 is to actually step outside the door. It's knowing that those 250 00:14:35,646 --> 00:14:40,309 people are there does help. But once you sort of take that step, 251 00:14:40,329 --> 00:14:43,772 and it is the first step is the biggest step, the benefit that 252 00:14:43,773 --> 00:14:44,152 you get. 253 00:14:44,524 --> 00:14:46,546 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So it was a loneliness brought on from 254 00:14:46,746 --> 00:14:47,567 living on your own? 255 00:14:47,687 --> 00:14:51,952 SHARON: Yeah. Again, marriage breakdown, divorce, which was 256 00:14:52,873 --> 00:14:57,357 awful. And so this is a part of my therapy. You go in, no matter 257 00:14:57,358 --> 00:14:59,499 what you're feeling like when you go in, you're bouncing when 258 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:02,469 you're going out. So, yeah, highly recommend it. 259 00:15:02,549 --> 00:15:03,229 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Your new family. 260 00:15:03,889 --> 00:15:06,531 SHARON: Exactly, exactly. More Barnsley family. 261 00:15:07,631 --> 00:15:08,491 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Well, thank you so much. 262 00:15:08,492 --> 00:15:08,851 SHARON: Thank you. 263 00:15:09,752 --> 00:15:12,193 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: On the way out, I bump into Irina, who has 264 00:15:12,233 --> 00:15:14,634 been wandering round the gardens, listening to all the 265 00:15:14,654 --> 00:15:15,094 choirs. 266 00:15:16,735 --> 00:15:20,376 IRINA: Gardens is absolutely remarkable. Today, I feel, is 267 00:15:20,496 --> 00:15:24,938 absolutely big paradise. So many people, different generation. 268 00:15:25,798 --> 00:15:28,139 And I attend Blossom Choir. 269 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:33,401 SPK_8: As a non-native speaker right with a stroke when 270 00:15:33,521 --> 00:15:36,522 sometimes I have a speech difficulties and a memory 271 00:15:36,622 --> 00:15:42,123 difficulties atmosphere was so enjoyable and so I think the 272 00:15:42,183 --> 00:15:46,345 best way to communicate. It's nice weather happy people 273 00:15:46,765 --> 00:15:51,146 everybody smile and definitely it's just to recharge my battery 274 00:15:51,326 --> 00:15:53,767 so quickly and so simple. 275 00:15:53,767 --> 00:15:55,927 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: It's perfect combination isn't it? 276 00:15:55,927 --> 00:15:58,468 IRINA: Unique combination you're absolutely right. 277 00:15:58,648 --> 00:16:01,750 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: You said you lived in Barnsley for 25 278 00:16:01,990 --> 00:16:02,430 years? 279 00:16:02,510 --> 00:16:06,312 IRINA: Yes, yes, 25 years. Immigrated in 2000, marriage, 280 00:16:06,392 --> 00:16:12,076 then divorced. But, you know, I feel Barnsley is so, so, so 281 00:16:12,376 --> 00:16:17,739 special place for me. I'm from Ukraine. 25 years ago, people 282 00:16:17,779 --> 00:16:21,661 think, why are you going to Barnsley? That is a small town. 283 00:16:22,522 --> 00:16:27,785 But now it is war in Ukraine. And I will say... Very lucky to 284 00:16:27,825 --> 00:16:32,428 be a British citizen and enjoyed British weather, British garden, 285 00:16:32,728 --> 00:16:35,209 British culture and a cup of tea. 286 00:16:41,633 --> 00:16:43,314 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Thanks for listening to this collection of 287 00:16:43,394 --> 00:16:47,797 stories celebrating the power of nature on people. Over the last 288 00:16:47,837 --> 00:16:51,099 12 months Nature Fix has brought you adventures from rock pools 289 00:16:51,159 --> 00:16:54,941 on the Isle Of Wight, to the joy of rotting logs in a haven in 290 00:16:54,942 --> 00:16:56,461 the shadow of Heathrow Airport. 291 00:16:57,582 --> 00:17:00,643 If you've missed any, why not have a look back? And most 292 00:17:00,703 --> 00:17:04,364 importantly, we hope Nature Fix has inspired you to get out in 293 00:17:04,404 --> 00:17:08,026 nature, because that's what it's all about. So it's bye from me, 294 00:17:08,506 --> 00:17:12,127 but why not head over to Wild Tales, our ongoing nature series 295 00:17:12,367 --> 00:17:14,588 with Rosie Holdsworth and Ajay Tegala.