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It has given us our oldest stories, made England a green and pleasant land, and once a week gives suburban man a purpose. Brett Westwood investigates our obsession with grass.

It's given us our oldest stories, made England a green and pleasant land, and has even helped shape our brains. Natural Histories investigates our obsession with grass, and Arcadian toil according to Victorian writer Richard Jefferies. Humans evolved in the grasslands and the major food crops (all grasses) have made us what we are. Thousands of years later it even gives suburban man an energy and a purpose through the summer.

Brett Westwood leads us through nature rich hay-meadows, through cornfields, across garden lawns and onto Wembley stadium in his quest to appreciate a neatly manicured piece of turf. How grass has influenced humanity is explored via author Tim Dee, grass expert Howard Thomas, artists Ackroyd and Harvey, Oxford gardener Simon Bagnall, historian Oliver Cox and groundsman Karl Standley.

First broadcast in a longer form 18th July 2017
Original producer: Melvin Rickarby
Archive producer : Andrew Dawes

Available now

28 minutes

Last on

Sun 3 Sep 2023 06:35
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey

Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey
For over 26 years,Β  have been using the disciplines of sculpture, photography, ecology and biology to create time-based work that juxtaposes nature and structure in work that often reflects scientific and environmental concerns.

They reflect urban political ecologies by highlighting temporal processes of growth and decay, and they have received many awards for their unique photographic work whichΒ utilizesΒ the pigment chlorophyll in making complex photographs.

Their work has been exhibited in contemporary art galleries, museums and public spaces worldwide.

Simon Bagnall

Simon Bagnall
Simon Bagnall is the head gardener at , home to one of the most spectacularly-kept lawns in the nation. He leads a team of seven people in collaboration with the garden master.Μύ

Dr Oliver Cox

Dr Oliver Cox
Oliver Cox is a historian by training, and received his undergraduate, masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Oxford, where he is now Heritage Engagement Fellow and Chair in the t.

He has published widely on Gothic Revival architecture, landscape gardening, patriotism, and is currently writing From Addison to Austen: A Short Guide to the Long Eighteenth Century.

Tim Dee

Tim Dee
Tim Dee is a writer and a Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ radio producer. In his book heΒ tells the story of four fields, which he has known for more than twenty years. They are the fen field at the bottom of his Cambridgeshire garden, a field in southern Zambia, a prairie battlefield in Little Bighorn, Montana, USA, and a grass meadow in the Exclusion Zone at Chernobyl, Ukraine.

Meditating on these four fields, he argues that we must attend to what we have made of the wild, to look at and think about the way we have messed things up but also to notice how we have kept going alongside nature, to listen to the conversation we have had with grass and fields.

Karl Standley

Karl Standley
Karl Standley is Head Groundsman at . He leads a team of three groundsman and 25 matchday staff to ensure Wembley Stadium has a world class playing surface all year round.

When most people are watching the match, Karl can't keep his eyes off the pitch and his thoughts are on how it is reacting to the game.

Professor Howard Thomas

Professor Howard Thomas
was born and educated in Wales and, after a career in scientific research including visiting professorships at Universities in Japan, the United States and Switzerland, he is now emeritus Professor of Biology at Aberystwyth University.

He has published extensively on the genetics and physiology of plant development and has a special interest in the science-humanities connection. He is a Fellow of the and a co-author of and .

His most recent book is , a personal account of the terminal events in the lives of plants and other organisms. He is also a devout jazz musician, and is author of .Μύ

Broadcasts

  • Tue 18 Jul 2017 11:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 FM
  • Mon 24 Jul 2017 21:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Sun 3 Sep 2023 06:35
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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