Chris Packham: The Walk that Made Me

"I don’t need the ‘perspective’ of the naturalist, thank you."

"We need to get some perspective and realise that there has to be some control."

But not the perspective of a naturalist obviously.

Of course he cares about the “management of the countryside”, by which I suspect you mean killing inconvenient wildlife, he is passionate about the destruction of habitats and decline of many species, which is why I think he is a refreshing antidote to the hunting and shooting fraternity who think they’ve a right to kill anything that moves in the name of “management”.

I don't know much about autism, but perhaps he is very rigid in his views. Not necessarily "extreme" as someone mentioned, but just not seeing the full picture.

To call someone cocky means you have no idea about psychology. People who put on this front do it because they are ultra sensitive, it is to hide there sensitivity. If only people would learn more about human behaviour they would understand each other better.
I enjoyed the Chris Packham programme very much, how sad to think this very successful and accomplished man, hides all this sadness. He has made this programme in the hope that people will be more understanding towards people with these issues. If it were possible to erase one thing from human behaviour, I think it should be Judgmental, and sadly it is used on an everyday basis, without people even knowing they are doing it. I had a mother that passed judgment on everyone she met, even watching TV she judged the people she was looking at, including, neighbours, family and always assumed she was right about them. How cruel, viscous and decremental is this. Everyone has a mannerism its just in the genes, you cant condemn someone because of a mannerism, none of us see our own mannerisms. Try to think before passing judgment.

As someone that is finding my body is starting to let me down I felt quite emotional when he spoke about not physically being able to do things that he used to do. I used to do lots of walking but can’t do the distances I used to: in fact some days even short walks are a problem. It was a programme that raised a lot of issues. When we think about the countryside we have to remember that humans have shaped it for centuries eg the water meadows, so it isn’t just a case of leaving everything as it is but putting more thought into what we’re doing and what effects they will have. I mean, who would have thought that, when cathedrals were built they would provide a perfect habitat for peregrines?

@Vegansrock. The management of the countryside doesn’t necessarily mean ‘inconvenient wildlife’ or killing anything that moves. I’ve stated my reasons upthread for the way I feel and I’m as entitled to my opinion as anyone else. Not trying to do anyone down or throw insults, just a point of view.

@MoorlandMooner. Not sure what you’re saying here - I think naturalists have their place, but Chris Packham doesn’t seem to want to consider anyone else’s point of view. We all need to eat, and we all benefit from keeping food prices low in the shops. So like it or not, it has to be managed.

I know many people disagree with shooting but most of the happily eat 'delicious' chicken that has only lived for about eight weeks before slaughter as opposed to pheasants who are born in March and live for at least seven months and very probably a lot longer and chicken are kept in confined spaces with very little chance of exercise or fresh air whereas pheasants have a life foraging in the the woods and fields.

I do not wish to derail the discussion from the TV programme but feel that I need to comment on your post DaisyL that game birds lead a good life. They do not:

Millions of birds (pheasant, partridge, grouse and others) are shot for sport during the shooting season, estimated at 100,000 a day.

According to Defra, virtually all the red-legged partridges released on UK shooting estates come from breeding birds confined in barren wire-mesh cages with less space per bird than an A4 piece of paper, often for their entire life. An increasing majority of breeding pheasants are now also confined in wire-mesh cages for at least three months a year.

Conditions are often worse than allowed under the law for chickens, leading to injury, stress, mutilation and death.

Many of the birds released on UK shooting estates actually start their lives on factory farms abroad – at least 50% according to Defra. These young birds can spend 20 hours or more crammed inside a crate stacked in the back of a lorry travelling from the factory farms to their destination in the UK.

www.league.org.uk/news/almost-seven-out-of-ten-think-shooting-birds-for-sport-should-be-illegal

Why is everyone so focused on shooting things for sport. My partner occasionally responds to farmers asking for his skills with an air gun to rid the farms of genuine pests- rats for one, wood pigeons which defecat everywhere and ruin feed and barns housing farm animals, and also eat their own weight every day in corn, thus affecting crops.

What really makes him angry is hordes of town people with packs of lurchers trampling the countryside, leaving gates open, and taking hares - some of them pregnant - out of season and doing it for fun. The lurches rip the animals to pieces and the ‘townies’ seem to enjoy watching it. These are the people killing for ‘fun’. They do the same with badgers. Country people have respect for the countryside and their efforts at trying to manage it on behalf of us all are beset with problems like this, but it’s all their fault isn’t it ?

Who is it that are killing hen harriers and other endangered birds of prey? Mostly gamekeepers on grouse moors - not “townies” - and anyway how do you know no rural dwellers are involve in “killing for fun”? Fox hunting? Are they all “ townies”?

@vegansrock. There are louts in all walks of life - town and country alike. I’m talking about responsible people who take a balanced view of looking after the countryside, and also farmers who are finding it harder and harder to carry on. Like I said, we all need to eat, and we all want food prices to stay low, so like it or not, that has to be managed.

We don’t all need to eat grouse. Plus there’s more than one way of “managing” agricultural land , it’s not all about producing the cheapest food.

I retrieve with my dogs on several local shoots and I have never heard of such methods of rearing partridges and pheasants Flexagon. Shoots want the birds that they rear to be in the peak of good health. Game dealers won't buy sickly or out of condition birds.

Lovely programme from Chris Packham in the same style as the Yorkshire walks (with Baroness Varsi, etc.) with the 360 degree camera and also the real time Kennet & Avon canal journey and the Dales bus ride.
However, I’d like to see some walks filmed in the beautiful Lancashire countryside; Yorkshire doesn’t have a monopoly on beauty. The Forest of Bowland, the River Lune, the Lancaster Canal, the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, Morecambe Bay, the Ribble Valley, the Rossendale valley, Rivington Pike, Pendle Hill - TV producers please take note!! ?

I watched this over the weekend and throughly enjoyed it. Loved how he kept referring back to his father and the references to his mum's 'dry' cakes!!! lol.

I only caught a few minutes of the programme, and it just happened to be when he mentioned how he felt as a teenager and his relationship with the countryside then.
It really struck a chord, and I felt quite tearful for hours afterwards.

I am a Chris Packham fan anyway, but I thought the programme was very moving, and the scenery beautiful and peaceful and relaxing.

I've admired Chris Packham for many years and thought this programme was one of his best. Everything about this walk was beautiful and he was so moving.
I have an autistic grandson and hope he lives his life and manages his condition as successfully as Chris does.