Sophie Brown loves the countryside and wanted to make it easier for other women of colour to enjoy it, too. So she founded a walking group that gives black women an opportunity to spend time in the great outdoors
Words: Jo Caird Photos: Dave Caudery
I It’s a perfect July afternoon and the sun is blazing down on the Bristol Steppin’ Sistas as they make their way along a circular route outside Pensford, a pretty village on the River Chew. Laughter and chitchat fill the air as the group – 12 women of colour, most of whom are in their 50s – passes under the magnificent arches of Pensford Viaduct (“very Harry Potter”, observes one walker, with a chuckle) and out into fields.
“This is already boosting my happy hormones,” Adelaide tells me as we follow the path close to the river, its reed-lined banks attracting all manner of buzzing creatures. “You don’t think about your life and your issues. You just have a laugh and hear each other’s stories.” The Sistas split into smaller groups as they stroll, twosomes and threesomes catching up since the last time they walked together, or getting acquainted for the first time.
It’s Angela’s first excursion with the group, a chance to break in the splendid pink-and-grey walking boots she bought herself for Christmas as an incentive to return to walking, a hobby she took up during the Covid-19 lockdowns but has since let slide. “I thought this would be a great way to trigger things and get me back into doing lots of walking,” she says, stopping to tie a bootlace. “I liked the thought of finding little nooks and crannies inside of Bristol and the surrounding area.” That’s been Donna’s experience, she tells me, as we walk down a steep hill across a hay field. “The group has enabled me to go to places I would never have gone,” she says, clumps of sweet-smelling hay catching on her trainers as she walks. “Pensford is just outside of Bristol but I wouldn’t have known about it.”
The British countryside, you see, has something of an access problem. While 69% of white adults visit nature at least once a week, according to the Government’s Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment (MENE) survey, the figure for black and minority ethnic (BME) adults is just 42%. It’s worse still for Asian adults, at 38%. Given that time spent in nature correlates strongly with good health and happiness,
