ASK AN ECO ENTHUSIAST
HOW’S YOUR GARDEN LOOKING?
It’s looking very well. I share my garden with seven other flats. We’re in a couple of converted Victorian houses. It’s a big space with a wild area. I’ve been supporting The Wildlife Trusts’ Wild About Lawns campaign to encourage people to let their grass grow. I used to love gardening. Now, I find it tiring. But our gardener is really good. He only cuts things back when it’s absolutely necessary. I love hearing the gardener approach, knowing that our garden is being looked after.
DID YOU HAVE A ‘WILD’ CHILDHOOD?
Our home in Liverpool had a small garden, where my dad would grow rhubarb, mint and blackcurrants. My grandma, who lived nearby, was always in her garden, too. She would make her own birdbaths. I spent hours rooting around outside finding caterpillars and beetles, which I kept in little boxes with glass lids in the shed, before releasing them.
SO YOU WERE A YOUNG NATURALIST?
Very much so. I loved going to a local park to play. Once, a friend and I caught a couple of tiny fish in the lake and put them in a jam jar. On the way home, I tripped over and the jar smashed. These poor fish were lying on the pavement. I ran into a shop to ask for a jar with some water in and the shopkeeper told me to get lost. I was so upset.
IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU’RE STILL UPSET…
In the Eighties, I was in a TV series called Nature in Focus. Each programme was about a different creature – adung beetle or an ant. I learnt so much to the point where I now can’t bear to kill an insect. I’ve got ants in my kitchen and I’m thinking, how can I persuade them to leave? I saw a silverfish in my bathroom this morning and instead of stamping on it, I thought how fascinating it was. They communicate with their little whiskers. They’ve got a life, too.
AND YOU’RE PASSIONATE ABOUT BIRDS?
I keep several pairs of binoculars around the flat so I can watch them wherever I am. It’s like having friends around. I’ve seen blackcaps, nuthatches and a woodpecker in the garden, but I’m equally captivated by pigeons. I was watching two yesterday bopping their heads together in a fight. It was quite comical. I eat breakfast in the kitchen gazing out at one of our feeders and spend breaks when I’m at home working on scripts looking at the birds. It relaxes me.
IS IT TRUE YOU’RE INTO FUNGI-SPOTTING?
Fungi are wonderful. My phone is heaving with pictures of them. It’s ridiculous. I also love trees. I sometimes walk up to a particular cluster in Highgate Wood, near where I live in London, and say, “Wow, you’re fantastic.” I have even been known to hug them.
ANY OTHER GO-TO NATURE SPOTS?
I love Rainham Marshe
