Blogger: Laura White, PA to Public Affairs Manager
I was surfing the net the other night, as you do, when I came across a Facebook group dedicated to my part of London. It was entitled the real East Enders. I began to read the odd post and then realised that I knew quite a few of the people who were posting. I also knew a lot of the people they were talking about, and the memories came flooding back.
By some miracle, I found the tab for old photographs and I flicked through them eagerly trying to guess the scene and when the picture was taken. Some scenes were so familiar; the pictures were historic records and had been taken in the years I grew up. So they looked as fresh in my mind as though I were seeing them through the eyes of the child I was.
And then – POW! There was a picture of my block of flats, taken in the early eighties; it showed my flat in all its glory. It may seem strange to you but I do not possess a picture of the building which was my home for nineteen years. When I took pictures it was always from the inside looking out. I never took pictures from the outside looking in. What struck me the most is the amount of concrete I was surrounded by. The absolute oppression of concrete in my life broken only by the occasional strips of tarmac.
I noticed in the photo the three raised flower beds which were planted outside the building’s entrance. They were not built from concrete but from red brick and were planted with bushes. These bushes were so important to me, they were my hiding place, the leaves became large plates for our pretend cakes at our tea parties. The stems bled a green blood which stained your hands when squashed, a really useful thing when you tried to feign illness and get out of going to school. Once a year they produced a funny looking yellow flower which you could make jewellery out of.
Looking back I think that those flower beds gave me my interest in the natural world. Those and the daffodil bulb I was given annually at school to plant and watch grow, but most importantly I believe that those flower beds kept me sane. Through them I learnt about the seasons, the rhythm of life, that there are lean times and then times of plenty and one will follow the other as sure as night follows day. It’s amazing to think that something as small as three raised flower beds and some municipal bushes taught me everything I needed to know about life.
So if you live in a place covered in concrete, go outside and look around you. I bet a town planner has left a bit of room for the natural world. Go and look, find the bushes and the flowers and watch the wildlife that flocks to it. You could see anything from a dainty house spider to a house sparrow. You’ll feel connected to the natural cycles of life and I promise you that you will feel much better for it. If you have children, take them out too.
Then go to our website www.rspb.org.uk/getoutdoors and take our survey, it only takes a few minutes and you will see just how connected you and your children are to nature. Moreover, if after experiencing the feeling of happiness, that your brief trip out gave you and you would like to do something a little more adventurous we also have some ideas for fun ways you to get outdoors.
Go on from one concrete dweller to another – it could be life changing!