Chris Packham: The Walk that Made Me

Best programme on this week. Chris Packham rocks IMO ?

''DH can’t stand him, mainly for his views on shooting. ''

his views on shooting is one of the many reasons so many of us follow him, support him, and admire him. And NO, many of us are NOT townies.

Sick to the backteeth of all the shooting brigade, and even worse, fox hunters (and no, it has not stopped) - just shouting 'townie' at anyone who does not approve of their activities, and actually try to fight them.

I remember watching ‘Asperger’s and Me’ and really wanted to give him a hug - which I’m sure was the last thing he would want! On the other hand, he is so dogmatic and self-righteous about his environmental views that I avoid listening to him. I assume that it’s his asperger’s that prevents him from recognising nuance but it’s bloody annoying, especially when the media seem to regard him as the fount of all knowledge about British wildlife, which he is patently not.

Just watched on catch up...feel so very emotional...had mixed feelings re Chris ....but his honesty, re mental health issues,...his love of nature,..his love of his dad....oh..just everything about the programme was beautiful..I will watch it again for sure....it helped keep as I'm struggling at the moment with feelings/emotions...dont feel as afraid to let them out now.....thank you Chris Peckham.....beautiful walk beautiful talk...

I really enjoyed the programme his childhood reminds me of mine in a away. I would be out all day as a child with my sisters and brothers roaming in meadows and woods foraging and pond dipping.

He did get rather emotional but that’s his nature and it added to the programme. His love of the natural world is enthusiastic and it made the programme so interesting.

I'm watching it right now farview. I don't care what he thinks about fox hunting or cows or any of the rest of it. Even golf ?.

What honesty he shows. The stories about his poodles and his advancing decrepitude should make it necessary viewing for anyone.

Best programme of the year so far. Full of beauty, peace, humility, empathy and humanity.

I am from a farming background and live on Exmoor. Great viewing for this person who is not a townie.

It is possible to live in the country, shoot and still maintain an open, enquiring mind.

This was a beautiful and poignant film made by a thoughtful and reflective man about a river walk he had shared many times with his father, a man who was coming to the end of his life.

His comments on the importance of animals in his own life, the bond he shared with his beloved dogs and birds of prey was extremely moving. Clearly he is a man fascinated by the history of the countryside, poetry and art as well as the animal world.

He was very candid about his struggles with his mental health and what we can all do to be alert to friends and family who may be going through similar struggles and maybe help save a life. He also highlighted the importance of assistance dogs for helping people live with autism.

What struck me too was the variety of ways that humans interact with riverscapes: a dog walker using the tow path, children fascinated by sticklebacks and minnows, open water swimmers, the man spotting kingfishers and exploring otter spraint (jasmine tea?) and the people of the village managing the seasonal flooding of the meadows.

And to top it all off, preregrine falcons nesting at Winchester Cathedral.

Thank you granfromafar for flagging up this lovely film and to know that Mrs P's baking was on a par with my own!

What a lovely post Flexagon, I couldn’t have put it better myself! I was also impressed by his sense of humour so managed to chuckle as well as shed a few tears. When I saw that his dear dad had died I was so sad for him...

To start with, this programme seemed so promising.
I absolutely loved the fact that there was a complete absence of the usual awful background ‘music’ and instead we were allowed to just listen to the sounds of birdsong and the river.

I expected the presenter to be just talking about what he was seeing on the route, but instead it ended up being all about him.

Disappointing.

Just catching up with this conversation and pleased that so many others enjoyed it too. He's obviously not to everyone's taste which is fair enough. If everyone liked the same people and things, life would be very boring!
Shysal- I obviously didn't watch the credits in full so missed the tribute to his beloved father. Thanks for pointing that out.

It’s obvious that people who enjoy shooting, hunting and trapping birds of prey, destroying species, want to use as much pesticide as they like to maximise their income, kill any inconvenient wildlife and treat animals like a commodity don’t like him, as he speaks out against the destruction of wildlife and the environment.

JenniferEccles

To start with, this programme seemed so promising.
I absolutely loved the fact that there was a complete absence of the usual awful background ‘music’ and instead we were allowed to just listen to the sounds of birdsong and the river.

I expected the presenter to be just talking about what he was seeing on the route, but instead it ended up being all about him.

Disappointing.

The programme was called Chris Packham: The walk that made -me-.

And you were disappointed it was all about him? I expected it to be all about him given the title, but it was an hour packed with him in discussion with the many interesting people he met. He also talked about history, wildlife, landscape, geography, animals, pets, love, the river, the irrigation of land, his family, Winchester Cathedral, books, poetry, encouraging children to take joy in wildlife, conservation, helping people with mental health.

Did you have the sound on?

The programme sounds interesting so I will endeavour to catch up.
Chris P is an activist and a great campaigner. In our neck if the woods he has succeeded in delaying a multi million pound conservation project which was due to improve the environment and natural habitat. All because of a nesting bird, a warbler I believe. Then once the nesting season is over, enter the dormice who are a protected species who can't be disturbed either. More campaigning. More delaying.
So I am not sure how I feel about him, but then it is his programme about him personally.

I fell asleep watching it but enjoyed what I saw so will watch the bit I missed. We met him years ago and we’re very impressed with him. He is very extreme in his views, though. We do have to co exist with nature and some of the things he is so opposed to do encourage wildlife. I bet, back in the day, he would have been campaigning about the railway being built saying that we should just stick to canals. I assume he’s allergic to dogs which is why he has poodles and called his first dogs Itchy and Scratchy but he’s never actually said that.

Thank you granfromafar for flagging this programme.
I recorded it, and we watched it last night.
Thought it very thought provoking and it is one of those that I could easily watch again.

Maybee70

Itchy and Scratchy were not his first dogs but, as he explains in the programme, they were the ones that helped improve his mental health after his previous dog Fish had been knocked over and killed.

I don't know but am guessing that Itchy and Scratchy were named for the fictitious characters in The Simpsons. I think he said the dogs he has now are called Sid and Nancy which will be after Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen a nod to his love of punk rock.

I didn’t know about his first dog. How sad. I know he used to try to get song titles into his tv work. He’s very complex isn’t he. Doesn’t live with people but us more chatty and friendly to passing strangers than many people would be.

Fish was his second, I think. yes, a very complex man who has learned to use the talents and live within the constraints that autism has both given him and placed upon him.

It's interesting how such a private and intense man could have made such a successful career in broadcasting but it's his passion for nature and to educate others about nature, right from his early days on The Really Wild Show, that seems to drive him.

When you watch the rest of the programme, you will see how he tires and becomes less interested in interacting with the other people he encounters on the way. That could be said of all of us after a 10 mile walk in hot weather but I imagine casual social interaction is not something he welcomes but knows he has to do.

I know I’m biased but it shows how much help dogs give to us in so many ways. I have whippets and I’ve heard of so many people that have a whippet for an autistic child and they help so much. I do love cats as well but dogs just have an instinctive way of understanding how someone is feeling.

I'll join you on dogs Maybee70.
Monty Don too.

After Chris's programme, I started to look for information on support dogs for people with autism and found this:

www.supportdogs.org.uk/autism-assistance

The story of Cohen and Azerley is truly heartwarming.

Flexagon

After Chris's programme, I started to look for information on support dogs for people with autism and found this:

www.supportdogs.org.uk/autism-assistance

The story of Cohen and Azerley is truly heartwarming.

Thank you.
Interesting about the weight of a heavy dog giving the pressure on him he needed to calm down.

This thread refers to his 'extreme views'. What are these extreme views?

@Lettice. I don’t need the ‘perspective’ of the naturalist, thank you. I’m a realist. I’ve seen crows pecking out the eyes of newborn lambs - even as the mothers are giving birth to them. I’ve seen the devastation that wood pigeons cause to crops and the damage they do to farm buildings. I could go on, but I’m obviously in the minority. I am NOT for the wholesale shooting of birds or anything else, just for fun. I am also against fox hunting - foxes do a lot of good in the countryside, they are natures dustbin men, but they also kill for fun and they can also do a lot of damage to livestock. We need to get some perspective and realise that there has to be some control.

The programme was about the man himself and I admire him for opening up about his condition, which I think will help a lot of people with similar problems, but he either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about the farming community and cares little for the management of the countryside.