A Life More Wild - Series 5, Episode 1

Welcome to season five of A Life More Wild. It’s great to be back outside again, walking with some fascinating guests and exploring the connection to the natural world that shapes their lives and work… 

We start the season with a big question… how do you get from Hackney to the north pole? For Dwayne Fields, it was via Jamaica, Epping Forest, Nene Park and becoming a Scout by accident. 

I’m Chris from C&S and this is A Life More Wild. 

Join Dwayne now, as he goes back to Nene Park and relives the beginning of a journey that took him out of a crime-filled neighbourhood and set him on the path to a life of remarkable adventures, culminating in his new position as UK Chief Scout, helping to bring the outdoor to the next generation.  

So this is Nene park, or Nene County Park, Ferry Meadows. People know it by. And we're about two and a half, three miles outside of Peterborough. And it's local. It's nice, and it feels very natural. There are parts of it that feel quite wild, but equally, there are parts of it that, for me, most importantly, are just really calm. In a day like today, I can see some swans, some ducks, and it's all really relaxing. It's not a warm day, but it's, it's a cool day, it's a nice day.  

I can see a tree in the distance across a body of water which is probably about 60 or 70 meters wide. And in this tree, I can see 8/10, cormorants, and some of them are, you know, they've got their wings stretched out, drying, but to me, that's not something that you see all the time in the UK. Beneath the tree, there are some swans, and it looks like a, is that? Yes, it's a gull, some kind of gull, maybe a lesser, black backed gull.  

My very first visit to this park was probably about two years ago, actually, and I came here because I was asked to do a program, and the person making the costumes or the kit for this show lived in Peterborough, and when I came down here, I was looking for somewhere just to go for a walk to kill some time. And I looked on a map, and I found this big green space with a few waterways. And I thought, right, I'll go there. And I remember walking through this park, and at the time, I thought, ‘oh, gosh, it's actually quite nice.’ And I remember walking and feeling the same sense that I felt when I first discovered Epping Forest in East London. I remember feeling this sense of, ‘oh, that's quiet, that's calm’, and that was the first sense, the first experience I had of Epping Forest. So for me, it was just a reminder of a really cool place and a really cool time. And following that, I went off to this person's house who lives not far from here, and she measured me up and tried on some kit. And a year, six months later, we, as in myself and Ben Fogle, went off on our expedition to Antarctica. So, the show is called Endurance: Race to the pole, and we were nominated for a BAFTA for it. And then on the flip side, that same person who fitted me out for all the kit ended up working for Nene Park, and was instrumental in getting a bridge put in, and we're going to cross that bridge in a minute.  

We've just seen a rabbit or two just bounding across the grass in the distance. We've got lots of them all along, in fact, all around us now. So you look into the fields, you'll see some in the distance. For me, it's always about just looking out. And you could have been to a place like this a hundred times. Every single time you come here, something will be different, something will be unique, and something will make you come back. I mean, we just looked out to what two o'clock from the direction that we're walking in, and we saw a couple of rabbits running. Now to our immediate left, we've got Roman Point. And if you look out, this was an old Roman house at one point, there's the plans for it, and you could easily miss that if you're not looking out for it. This is the, this is why I love to bring my kids here, actually, because they have all the questions in the world. It reminds me a lot of when I was a kid and I'd come out into, you know, the woodlands near where I grew up in Jamaica, and every time I went out there, I had questions in my head that I'd run back to my great grandma with. And she did exactly what I think every great grandma, every parent or person of responsibility should do, which is answer the questions they know the answers to, and then send you off and tell you we're going to work on it together. The ones that they don't know the answers to. And that's exactly what I do my kids when I bring them here, and that's why this place is so special to me, because this for them is their first actual big green space.  

So I am now Chief Scout. I've been Chief Scout now for approximately three months, and it's an absolute position of pride. I'm so proud of the scout movement, what it does, what we stand for. I'm so proud of the young people. I've seen what they do. I've seen the benefits that communities have had from having a scout group that's working well in there, we've got 147,000 volunteers every single week that make an amazing difference to young people up and down the country. I'm just so full of pride in what we do, and I'm so honoured that they'd look at me and say, this poor kid from rural Jamaica has what it takes to be our Chief Scout. I'm still, I'm still in shock, I'm still surprised, I'm still really honoured. I'm still excited, and I just want to do the best job I can do, and make scouting a place where everybody can feel like they belong.  

My journey into scouting, I've told this story so many times, but it was absolutely accidental. I didn't know about scouts. I didn't know the values, the benefits, I didn't know the fun, what you'd get out of it, what you had to put in it. I just didn't know anything about it whatsoever. And I remember being at a friend of mine's house. So when I first came to the UK, I had one friend. It's a kid called Stavros, and his name's as famous as mine, because every time I tell this story, I was name check him, because he's still one of my friends to this day. And I was at his house one day and his mom said, ‘Oh, do you know I'm running late. I'll take you home when I've taken Stavros to scouts.’ And his mom pulls up in this Scout Hall in North London. And of course, we jump out the car and we start to run in. I don't know any better, so I'm running in behind Stavros, and as I get to the door, this man stands up, and he goes, ‘Ah, great, you're a new starter.’ He's never seen my face before, and I remember freezing and just staring at him. And then I looked back at Stavros mum, and then I looked at this guy again, and she could tell I was terrified, because I wasn't used to speaking to people. And she said, ‘No, no, no, no, he's not. He's not, you know, starting, he's with me. We're just taking Stavros in.’ And this leader, this volunteer, he said, ‘No, well, let him stay. He'll have a great time. He'll love it.’ And, you know, Stavros, his mom, made a decision. Said, ‘Okay, stay. I'll tell your mom.’ And I stayed and I remember we were building bridges that day, and it felt more like we were building figurative bridges, because at this point, I was struggling to make friends. I couldn't have conversations with other kids. I didn't know what cartoons were the best ones, so when kids were talking about superheroes, I couldn't be part of that conversation. I didn't know what magazines were the right ones, because I'd never had a magazine in my life. I just didn't fit in anywhere other than in that scout group on that day when we were doing things like tying logs together to make bridges between two benches. And for me, that was the first time since arriving in the UK that I felt like actually there's hope. This could be a place that I could survive, and I enjoyed it so much. I remember everything that I experienced. I remember the feeling of being in scouts and being part of something, and I took that feeling with me all the way through my teenage years and my early adult life. And a few years later, a few years after, you know, I'd done the North Pole, walked to the North Pole, scouts got in touch and said, ‘We'd love for you to be an ambassador we love what you stand for.’ And I couldn't say no, because I knew what scouting had given me. So I said yes, and I loved it so much. I travelled the country, I went on events nationally, locally and internationally, and all I could do is just say thank you, because every single one of those people was the exact same as the person that invited me in on that day and made me feel like I was part of something.  

This is really awesome. So you can see a train track there. It's a small train that you can get on that you can imagine the kids love that. They love it. So we've got three lakes here in Nene, and this is one of them. This is the smaller of the of the three. And even then. I mean, we're just walking past a little gap where you can see some water through it, and I can see dozens and dozens of, of, you know, aquatic birds. You've got some coots there. I think that's a mallard. Is that? No, no, no, no. I don't know what that is. I think that's a is it a Mandarin? I'm not sure. Definitely coots. Definitely some gull. And I'm certain there's more cormorants back there as well. But again, it's just alive. I can see some robin flying around, just in here. And this is what I mean when I say, this is how you can stop somewhere, and if you focus on, you know, just a little small space, there's no one else around, really. And every now and then, you'll get a treat when you hear a steam engine going past, which is, you know, it's the most unique thing you'll ever hear. You're stood in the middle of a park just looking out over across some water, and then a steam engine goes past.  

We're gonna cross the bridge now, we're walking up towards the middle of bridge. Where I'm gonna stop for a minute, because we're being almost serenaded by two crows you can hear in the background. I mean, I always feel comfortable stopping in the middle of a bridge just to take a moment and appreciate, one, the workmanship that's gone into it. But to the view as well, the only manmade structures or anything that I can see is two tiny vans in the distance. Other than that, I can't see a single man-made structure from where I'm stood. And this bridge is significant for lots of reasons, one of which, it's only stood here because of the work of somebody I know, and an entire team of people, but they were part of it as well. The person I knew was part of it, and this person, her name's Lindsay, she was part of my expedition to Antarctica with Ben Vogel back in 2022 and that expedition, believe it or not, started maybe 15 or so years earlier. In 2007 I was looking for something to do, and I saw Ben Fogle and James Cracknell on BBC Breakfast talking about their crossing the, The Atlantic. And I remember thinking, ‘Wow, that's amazing.’ People actually row across the Atlantic for fun. And in the next breath, both Ben and James said they were looking for a third person to join their expedition to Antarctica. And I thought that's great. I'm looking for something to do. I'm desperate for something that will get me out of out of Hackney, out of East London, away from all the crime and the violence and the stresses that I was exposed to and, that crime, that violence meant I lost a friend of mine, and that, for me, was probably the biggest reason I was looking for something to do. And I remember I applied for that expedition way back in 2007 and I didn't get on it because I applied late. I was so cowardly, it took me almost a month to pluck up the courage to send an email. And the response was, ‘Hey, we love your story. We love why you want to do it, but unfortunately, you can't come along because the selection process has gone too far, and we can't let you in now.’ And I remember feeling disappointed, but in the next line, it said, ‘Would you consider going to the North Pole at this stage?’ I'm Jamaican. I grew up in London. As far as I'm concerned, a pole is a pole. It's snowy, it's freezing cold. But I said yes, because I was so desperate for something to do. And I eventually ended up walking to the North Pole, becoming the first black Britain to do it. And I remember thinking to myself, this, as hard as it was, as tiring as it was, it felt great because I had a story to tell people as to, you know, why I did it and how I hoped by doing that I could impact change, and you know, I met Ben. Hello! 

Hey, you alright? Morning.  

It's a bit of vibration in the bridge when people walk past, isn’t there? I'm sure that's a design feature.  

Noisy duck there. So yeah, walking to the pole. One gave me a story to tell, but also proved to me, or allowed me to prove to myself that you know anything's possible. And if me, Joe Average from East London could get up, decide to walk to the magnetic North Pole and then make it happen with all the challenges that come with that, you know, fitness, funding, equipment, all the skills that you need to make it happen, the connections, the time, the determination, the perseverance and resilience, all of that, all of those things, and I didn't have any of those. I wasn't special. I just thought if I could do it, then surely anyone can do it. And I just need to spread that message.  

My role in scouting, for me is all about first and foremost, saying thank you to everyone that makes scouting possible. That's all the volunteers. And I think equally as important is having scouting reach new communities and having people from backgrounds that hadn't considered scouting before. I want them to look at it and recognize that it is for everyone, because it truly is. And I want, you know Bear Grylls left us a really great legacy. He left us a waiting list of 107,000 young people across the country. And that tells me that people seen scouts, seen Bear, and thought we can do that.  

There's a swan coming right up to us. Now it might think that where we're feeding, but we're not gonna feed you, mate. 

So Bear has left this legacy of 107,000 young people waiting to join the movement, and the one challenge we have is that we just don't have enough volunteers. We can't keep up with demand. So my my aim, my goal, is to increase the number of volunteers, bring that waiting list down, and get every single one of those young people into scouting so they can benefit, just like I did, and just like half a million young people do every single week.  

It's amazing. These two swans just they've come, they're two feet away from us, shaking, and, you know, pruning, and… 

So you don't need many qualifications to bring a group out into a place like this. I mean, I'm a UK mountain leader, so I can bring them out to the mountains and insured, and I'm insured for something like that, but for a place like this, anyone could bring a group out here, if they've got just a few considerations in mind, just make sure you know, you've, you're aware of the risks. And in a park like this, there aren't many. But the thing that I would do if I brought a group out here is, I'd spend a lot of time sat still and just watching and just looking, and I'd say to them, ‘tell me what you can see.’ And I don't know if you've noticed, but we've walked across some, we've got lots of tracks. We've got a couple of tracks here. We've got some rabbit poo. I know it's rabbit because we can see the evidence where they've been digging away at it. And look, there's some poo there as well. They've been scratching at the surface. Got lots and lots of birds. This, for me, is rich ground for conversations with people who generally don't go into the outdoors, and it's not far from an urban centre. I mean, if we were to stop right here and just have a look around, I would bring a group out here, and I'd say, ‘Right guys, I want you to tell me first of all, how many birds can you see?’ Now that's a never ending exercise, because as soon as one flies up, you lose count. But what you're doing is you don't care about how many birds they can see. What you care about is getting them to have a look around and actively notice what's happening in the space they're in. You want them to start speaking and sharing something. And one person say, ‘Well, I've count 16.’ Another person say, ‘I think it's 18.’ And what you're doing there is you're giving them the space to communicate and develop that skill. Then you're going to ask the question, ‘Well, what birds can you see?’ Not how many. ‘What birds can you see?’ And then they'll start saying, ‘Okay, I can see that white one.’ You say, ‘Okay, well, what bird is it?’ ‘I don't know.’ ‘So what are you going to do to find out?’ And you've created a whole lesson plan there, just off the back of what you can see. 

So we've just crossed the train track, the miniature train track, which is so good, and we've arrived back pretty much where we, where we set off from. And if nothing else, I think this little walk of ours has shown you don't have to do anything. You could just go to a place like this, be in the environment and just take it all in. You don't have to have any skills necessarily. You just have to be willing enough to have a look around and see what you see and just appreciate it for what it is. It's an open space that you're part of, and there's no escaping that is there. I don't think adventure is about geographically, where you are in terms of, you know, the grand scheme of things, whether it's the Pole, Antarctic, top of Everest, I think adventure is. Something small, wherever you are, and I think it's open to everyone. I think a space like this, we could stand just ten feet that way, on a patch of grass, and if we want to look close enough, I think there's a whole world of adventure to be had right there. 

If you’re inspired to answer Dwayne’s call for more Scout volunteers, you can find out more through the episode notes, but if you’re just inspired to get out now and again and point at rabbit poo, that’s fine too.  

We’ll see you in a month or so for another walk with another great guest and in the meantime you'll be able to listen to our first Quick Stroll episode! 

Keep track of all Dwayne’s work on his Instagram and follow us on ours to see behind the scenes footage from recordings and a few extra questions we asked each guest. 

A Life More Wild is an 18Sixty production, brought to you by Canopy & Stars. Production by Clarissa Maycock. Our theme music is by Billie Marten.