Two go wild in the woods

By Fran Southgate

Wetland Landscapes Officer

During the month of June, Sussex Wildlife Trust is encouraging as many people as possible to carry out random acts of ‘Wildness’. We want people to feel happier, healthier and more connected to nature by doing something wild.

My colleague Anne and I were pondering this, and decided that we need to lead by example, and to go a bit feral ourselves. It’s too easy to get stuck in the administration and office work which comes with wildlife management, and to let it distract us from immersing ourselves in nature. So we hatched a plan to go wild camping.

We had a destination in mind that we had agreed beforehand with the landowner. Off we trotted with hammocks, bivvy bags and a hearty supply of snacks. It was good to feel that little tingle of anticipation which comes with a mini adventure, something we often forget as adults though I remember feeling it often as a child. I taught Anne the easy way to string a hammock between two trees and we tried to light a fire the old way (we may have cheated just a little a bit!)

Despite the weather forecast, we had a clear and breezy warm night. We watched the moon rise, the fire coals glow and listened to the owls hoot. I think that we were both expecting to sleep badly, and to arrive into the office this morning all bleary and tired. In fact it was quite the opposite. Surrounded by nature and the gentle silence of the occasional falling leaf, we awoke briefly a couple of times to hear the dawn chorus or a fox call, but we both slept soundly and woke up feeling relaxed and content. It was such a wonderful way to wake – I’m still smiling.

I will definitely bivvy again. It’s just a little bit closer to nature than camping and not nearly as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. In Anne’s words ‘It’s the best ceiling I ever woke up to’.

Enjoy your own random acts of wildness.