‘Life, is not a walk across an open field’ - Russian proverb
I’d
not been outside much that week. I was trying to finish some work for a course
on mental health. The body slows down, you don’t sleep so well, you snack and
consume caffeine drinks without taking the exercise to work them off. Your
shoulders slump as your eyes focus downward on the computer screen - thinking
too much, instead of being absorbed in doing - such things create low moods.
But
that day was different, a group of us clients and a couple of workers from the
Community Care Trust made our way out here. Out into the light, clean air,
stretching the legs, reconnecting with a more natural environment - more
‘grounded’ in the real world.
Two
car loads of loud chattering voices talking across each other, full of the
concerns of urban people who find life impossible and want to blame it on
others, or themselves. Me trying to give directions, others without a sense of
direction, or an etiquette for driving the rural Devon lanes.
But
once we’re there I begin to relax, roll a much needed cigarette and muse on how
the body of a British Railways standard freight van (circa 1950) came to be in
the car park!
Then
suddenly Verity bounds from the undergrowth and all’s well with the world.
She’s a catalyst, someone who can make things happen, someone to get us of our
backsides! Her hands are red, first I think she’s been marking sheep, in fact
the first wooden posts, marking the first trail, are now in place and it’s this
route we follow.
She
takes the leads, I bring up the rear, but wrapped up in my own thoughts I fail
to watch my back. Suddenly Simon is there introducing himself, and after 10
minutes chat on the way to the summit, you begin to get a feel for where a
person’s character really comes from.
Our
hosts have lived-out their lives in a rural landscape, we tentatively make
connections as we descend the hill via the quarry. And what we’re really talking
about is what is known as Care Farming, or Green Care - giving anyone with
physical or mental disabilities the opportunity to experience purposeful
activities in a farming environment. (Take a look at Care Farming UK).
And
here it might mean anything from helping to improving access and facilities
(car parking, paths, seating, shelters, an ‘eco loo’) to learning the actual
skills of woodland management. In a sense what’s been created is a new
‘unspoilt’ environment. How could that be maintained at the same time as
allowing access? Equally what should be done, if anything, about the wildlife
which is migrating here?
We
approach the pond, but here alas there is no sound of water. We stare gloomily
at a gloomy pool. Not enough water comes of the hills to allow this artificial
feature to flow, it needs some more oxygen, some creative ‘eco friendly’
solution.
Driving
way, I think I’d happily commit to being here for a day a week; to be in Newton
Abbot by 8,30 if someone could pick me up. I’d bring my own lunch and do a
day’s work in exchange for the occasional mug of tea. It’s not an escape,
because it’s more real than our lives back there.
And
then, about a week later, a confidence passed on by a ‘third party’, from
another client of the mental health services, who had said, ‘best day I’ve had
in years’.
(Photos from Flickr: The Broadhempston Community Woodland)
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