Mel Tuckett shares some of the stories – of change, growth, and nurture – recorded by the Nature’s Cure team at the NHSN’s final Monday Night Lecture and 1829 Talk of the winter
It was so exciting for the Nature’s Cure Project to be invited to take part in the celebrated 1829 Talks series. We jumped at the opportunity to talk about our work and invite everyone to share their stories of connection with North East nature.
The Nature’s Cure project has been generously funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and is working to celebrate and enrich our local heritage. We look back to discover the history of those that have connected with local nature, and we look forward by collecting new voices that are telling stories of the North East today.
After finding out about the North East Nature Archive collections from Heritage Researcher Pete Mitchell, it was amazing to see so many people willing to give their time and thoughts to record their stories.
With Spring approaching, it was fascinating to see a theme of change and growth.
This anonymous story so clearly captures the seasonal joys of nature change in the North East:
“I love the seasons as different plants and animals indicate progression from the depths of winter into spring and so on. Maybe the depths of winter when we might feel at the lowest ebb, there are the hazel catkins followed soon after by the snow drops, which last for ages in the NE and we always have our resident birds to entertain us. Spring arrives in fits and starts, early native flowers show their colours and a bumble might appear as the sun starts to warm the air. As the days lengthen “rapidly” in March, early tree blossom add colour and scent. Into April, gorse flowers around at this time of year, proliferate and fill the air with coconut essential oils. Onwards into summer when biodiversity appears to peak then a slowing down into autumn- the wasps having been prolific regulators of plant feeding insects, turn their attention to our picnics. The glorious autumn colours give way revealing the outline structures of our many native deciduous trees as we lower our outdoor expectations…”
This story from Mike Jeffries picks up on this theme and focuses on the change to be seen within the beautiful North East coastal landscape.
“Up at Hauxley the seaward face of the dunes looks like a liquourice allsort- 3 layers, blue-ish grey (boulder clay), peat and on top, sand with straggly nets of roots across the face.
Mike Jeffries
The whole dune is a beautiful compressed block of time, the boulder clay squeezed out under the glaciers, the peat an old wet wood with branches and tree trunks sticking out and the dunes much more recent.
When the sea fret comes in I swear you can hear the distant grumble of mammoths out of the plains across the North Sea. Certainly there are more familiar animal hoof prints in peat slabs revealed when the tide sometimes whips back the beach sands.
But most summer days it is the sand martins that steal the show, wheeling and chattering along the dune lines.
It is an odd mix of continuity and change, those martins lead fragile lives and the mammoths are gone. The dunes are going too but something else will come in their place.
The thread of nature through time runs very strong.”
For Robyn Muir a key aspect is that her perception of nature has changed over time. She recognises that as she gets older, her appreciation for the power of nature to heal has grown.
“I have always been in nature due to parents taking me places. In recent years I have become more aware of the impact nature has on me and the wellness that comes with it. During A level studying, I enjoyed walks in nature to relax and unwind, listen to nature. At age 17 I started to notice nature. Seasons, sounds, temperatures. Now when I am in nature I notice these things. When, I am sad or don’t know what I’m feeling. I go into nature and it makes me feel better. I like to hold a tree and take deep breaths, it makes me feel at one with nature, grounds me.
Robyn Muir
Stars make me feel amazed, trees make me feel alive. Scenery is amazing.”
Yet for Rachel Muir, themes of change are joined with the reassurance of continuity and the familiar.
“I love to hear our blackbird as soon as I wake up in the morning. It brings me happiness as soon as I hear it. Come January he sings such a beautiful song.
Rachael Muir
Summer evenings are also filled with his birdsong. As I sit in the garden and listen to him, day after day singing away. He might fade in the late Autumn but I know he is always there to greet me one January day again.”
And finally, special thanks to someone who took the time to return their story after the event using the good old postal service. Their story was one of the power of nature to anchor us all in times of anxiety and change.
“NATURE IS: an antidote to the news, […] being shunted from pillar to post, and banging my head on a brick wall. The silent scream!
A walk up the local “Bridle Path” anchors, earths, calms me and changes my mood. I live in the present and time expands as I observe, listen and time expands as I observe the progress of blackthorn and lambs tails (catkins) and notice new celandine and arum lily leaves. A “chackle” of jackdaws and two wood pigeons ahead.
Nature is a constant in an upended world in turmoil and must be protected.
Later I go by bus to two NHSN talks. I marvel at the water colours of molluscs in the first talk about Archives. In the second talk I learn about the variety of local ladybirds and about “citizen science.” This time I go out with a different kind of “spots before my eyes” which are not due to eye strain!!
Even writing down these words has had a calming effect today.”
It is so great to hear how nature and the simple act of writing has helped someone cope with the pace of change in this sometimes hectic world.
Many thanks for all those attendees who took part, and your beautiful observations will be carefully stored within the archive. This will create an invaluable record of the voices of the North East in 2025 and the value of nature in difficult times.
We would love to hear many more people’s stories of their connections to nature. If you would like to tell us your story please use this link to our online form.
We are also running Treasures of the Archive events where you can visit the collections and see some of our amazing books, pictures and letters. In these sessions there is also an opportunity to contribute your stories to our project. Please use this link to book.
