The Natural Investigation

Nestled in a corner of East Finchley stands Bishop Douglass Secondary School – a place of education, enthusiasm and, more recently, environmental enrichment. The eagle-eyed and elephant-brained of you may recall last year’s publication in The Archer newspaper outlining students’ participation in workshops and field trips to form or grow knowledge of, and appreciation for, environmental consciousness and activism. Quite the opportunity if you ask me, and certainly not one I was offered at school.

Not only does this scheme facilitate learning, it also offers a welcome reprieve from the issues faced by many of the Capital’s students. Crowded buses in the morning, the regimented routine, repetitive tasks slowly wearing the lateral creative capacity of dopamine-saturated brains – let’s put a pin in that shall we?

You may have found yourself nodding and sighing solemnly at the relatability of these problems. If so, do not despair – you aren’t alone. With this slither of reassurance, I am thrilled to offer a shiny red cherry of resolution, consumption of which having been shown to improve mental and physical health. The message is simple: GO OUTSIDE!

We are lucky enough to live in a relatively leafy part of an urban sprawl, with Cherry Tree Wood in all its local charm along with Hampstead Heath and its stately seclusion. However, even here we cannot escape the sounds of roaring aircraft, police car sirens and over-excited dogs with comically human names.

Please do not fret. Options for true sanctuary from the Zone Three madness are plentiful, proximate and won’t drain your pockets. I can personally vouch for the wonderful home county of Hertfordshire. With its beautiful forests of Ashridge and Heartwood, you can, in under two hours by public transport, situate yourself from East Finchley Station to a scene of dancing light dappled through ancient trees which hold soft earth beneath your feet upon which expressively beautiful wildflowers sway in a breeze carrying unpolluted air so unknown in the metropolis you left behind.

So, what are you waiting for?