Chris Dodd

I am the author of New Wildernesses, literary non-fiction exploring locations across Britain. The book brings together my interests in nature, landscape and history; it looks at the ways in which habitats and wildlife can return – naturally. Part of my previous work has involved interpreting and mapping ancient landscapes.

Liz and I also guardian some land in the Lake District that we are letting naturally ‘wild’. Our garden is nature-friendly too. Part of our approach to the ‘wilding’ land and our garden comes from what I realised whilst exploring the places and habitats in the book. That contributed to our garden recently becoming an episode of the BBC TV wildlife series Secret Garden, narrated by David Attenborough.

I am also interested in how ‘slow exploring’ in a place can change my perception, both of the landscape, the intensity of my memories, and of what I observe of nature. It can also lengthen my sense of time – an extra gift during the days and weeks spent in these wondrous places.