What does it mean to experience nature? How does it change us? What can it give us, to help us through our daily lives?
These are questions most of us don’t often think too much about while the going’s good. But during the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us were thrown back on the nature around us – local reserves, parks, fields, or just our own gardens – for comfort and relief, and people from all walks of life found themselves reconnecting with the natural world. At NHSN, we collected stories from our members and others about this time, and published them in Notes from Lockdown Naturalists – a record in text, drawings and photographs of how nature enthusiasts weathered the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, and used them to reconnect with their passion for the landscape around them.
But this got us thinking: what about people who aren’t dedicated naturalists, and what about events beyond the pandemic? In his book Nature Cure, the renowned naturalist Richard Mabey writes about how re-engaging with the natural world brought him out of severe depression, and in recent years there have been a lot of books about how, and whether, nature can help us through the dark times. People have always found solace in nature during times of trial and upheaval; in the North East there is a long history of turning to the natural world of our shorelines, hills and woods to give relief during wars, strikes, recessions, and the stress of both industrialisation and deindustrialisation. Our archive is full of stories of how people have interacted with nature – as scientists, as artists, as believers or unbelievers, and as people.
Now we’re going beyond the archive. ‘Nature’s Cure’ is our ongoing project to gather stories from all over the region about how nature has helped ordinary people through good times and bad. Generously supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and NHSN members, we hope to make a new archive – an archive of living voices – that reflects the intimate and sometimes complicated relationship between the people of the North East and the natural environment around them. From the beaches of Northumberland to the Sycamore Gap, from the Cleveland Hills to Lindisfarne, we want your stories about how nature has helped you through and affected your life.
You can write to us here, give us a ring on 0191 208 2790, or email me at nena.nhsn@newcastle.ac.uk. I’d love to chat at greater length, hear and capture your reflections as well, so if you feel you have something to contribute, get in touch. And of course we would love to collect artwork, poetry, audio and other forms of reflection on how the natural world has been a part of your life. I’ll be around at NHSN events and out in the community more widely looking for stories, too!