I went training alone at Barn Elms athletics track one evening last week, and arrived to find a dozen or so teenage boys (decked out in the archetypal 'chav' regalia of hooded top, tracksuit trouser and fake jewellery) holding court in one corner of the track. Two of them had mopeds, and were riding them around the track, helmetless, when I ducked under the fence to begin my session.
My hackles were up as I jogged towards the posse on my warm-up lap, and I was already cooking up retorts to the abuse that was bound to be hurled and spat my way as I passed them in a vest and skimpy shorts. But none came, and the boys kept themselves to themselves.
After a few more laps in the evening sun, and a great deal more sweat, one of the boys approached on a mountain bike that was too small for him. I braced myself. "'Ere, mate", he said, taking a hand off the bars and angling the peak his baseball cap to block out the glare, "are we gettin' in the way of you runnin'? Just say if we are, and we'll 'ead somewhere else." I smiled spontaneously, thinking of the space I had as a kid, growing up in the countryside. My brother and I had a whole valley, almost to ourselves. "Of course not."
And then, a few minutes later, something utterly surreal happened. A police helicopter swooped low over the nearby trees and circled twice around the boys twice, so slowly that it was almost hovering, before scudding off towards the horizon. I blinked in disbelief, then ran on.
I was done after an hour and sat by the edge of the track with a towel and a drinks bottle. A different kid in a hoodie came up on a scooter. "Mate, is there a water fountain near here?" There wasn't, of course, and the tragedy of the situation struck me instantly. England (and perhaps the world) could do with a few more water fountains, and a few less police helicopters.
— Filed under Rumination, Schools/Education
From last Thursday's Metro (a free UK newspaper):
Explorer's Arctic quest pole-axed
A British explorer who plans to trek to the North Pole to measure its melting ice cap has been criticised… Pen Hadow was accused by Green Party MEP Caroline Lucas of using the quest for the sake of an adventure. "Exploration of the Arctic should not be seen as a glamorous adventure but rather needs to be serious and co-ordinated scientific effort".
I find Lucas's argument baffling: the world desperately needs more field scientists, and if we're to have a hope of engaging a generation that are less in touch with nature than ever before, then I can't see how making exploration look more boring is going to help. In a world full of vapid celebrity, footballer's wives and pop stars staggering out of rehab, a glamourous and inspiring spokesperson or two is just what climate science needs right now.
[Here's a link to Pen's forthcoming expedition, the Vanco Arctic Survey. Also a Youtube video from the press launch, with Pen explaining the "missing data set for scientists" that they're setting out to gather.]
— Filed under Climate Change, Other expeditions, Schools/Education
This year is the 75th anniversary of the British Schools Exploring Society (BSES). BSES Expeditions is a UK-based youth development charity that organises challenging scientific expeditions to remote, wild environments, with the aim of developing the confidence, teamwork, leadership and spirit of adventure and exploration of all expedition members.
Earlier this year, BSES very kindly asked me to become one of their Patrons, and (for the benefit of any 16-20 year-olds that might be reading this and are looking for an exciting project later this year) I wanted to talk about an especially exciting expedition they're organising. Beyond Endurance is a five-year scientific expedition that will focus on investigating climate change and global warming in addition to practical conservation project based around South Georgia, the Falklands and Antarctica. The expedition will be run from HMS Endurance which is a UK based ice breaker vessel that helped the BBC get such fantastic footage for 'Blue Planet' and 'Life in the Freezer'.
This is fantastic opportunity for 12 young explorers to get travel to Antarctica, one of the most hostile and remote areas in the world, and to get involved with an incredibly worthwhile project. You can read more about joining the expedition here.
— Filed under Schools/Education
Apologies for the silence – the blog has taken a back seat for a bit. Life has been pretty crazy for the past few weeks, and I've just finished a fortnight-long tour of schools around the UK, speaking to nineteen schools (often two or three in the same day) to promote the Ice Edge competition.
I think what I had to say was well received, but the range of reactions I saw was amazing; from being fixed by the indifferent glare of the inner-city Liverpool teenager with stripes shaved into his eyebrow to spotting the Belfast girl hiding behind her scarf when I talked about the polar bear Pen Hadow and I encountered in 2001. I ate school dinners, drank overbrewed tea and signed autographs with chewed-up pencils. Schools are, I decided, simultaneously the toughest, and the most rewarding audience a speaker could ever hope for.
Speaking of rewarding, the best experience of the fortnight came on the very last morning, when I spoke to the wonderful Dyffryn School in South Wales. Not only did I experience the warmest welcome of any of the schools I spoke at (amazingly, some schools didn't even offer me a cup of tea after we'd travelled halfway across the UK to speak to them) but the pupils there had also already produced some fantastic work towards the competition, and they seemed both enlightened and passionate about the environment. One piece of work, by Alex Hollet, nearly brought tears to my eyes. He'd spent days making a giant Arctic scene, contained in a huge white-painted box. There was a poem written on the lid, and the title of this post comes from two lines of his work:
We drive our cars and that seems neat.
Have we forgotten we've got feet?
You can see more photos of Alex's work here (and a zoomed-in version of the poem here).
Somewhere in amongst all the talks I managed to move to a new flat in Parsons Green. I'll post some photos of it soon.
Last up, a few other things I've been meaning to share:
- The Offscreened schools expedition to Dubai and Oman.
- Rene Pollrich's winter ski tour to Norway (otherwise known as 'photos to make Ben envious').
- Rosie Stancer's 2007 solo North Pole expedition. I've been harbouring a secret desire to head North alone again this spring, but couldn't find either the sponsorship or the time to do it in the style that it deserves. Rosie is a great friend of mine, she's been training like a maniac, she's one of the most driven people I know, and she deserves to pull it off. I can't wait to follow her progress.
— Filed under Miscellany, Schools/Education
A bit of a list-minute heads up (now the hotel wifi is working) but if you're in the UK, you can catch me on the BBC Breakfast News this morning, talking about the launch of the Ice Edge competition for UK schools. I'll be on at 0720, 0820, 0920 and then throughout the day on BBC News24.
I'm on in 20 minutes, so I need to go and practice my lines… I'll write more about Ice Edge later today.
— Filed under Schools/Education
The flight to Glasgow is laughably short – take off, fold down table, eat, coffee, rearrange plastic cutlery in tray, fold up table, land.
I sat next to an old chap with a pot belly, liver-coloured spots on the backs of his hands, a hearing aid that kept squeaking and one of those copper bracelets that turn your skin green. When the stewardess offered him tea or coffee, he nodded and smiled. I saw his wife pop their two little chocolate mousses (the pudding that came with our meal) into her handbag for later. I stared out of the window at the beautiful summer sky (cotton wool clouds, patchwork landscape, hot air balloons) and felt happy and sad at the same time.
The next morning I spoke to pupils at the Wishaw Academy Primary School. I've done so much corporate speaking recently that I was worried about switching back into 'kids' mode, but the slew of questions I fielded at the end showed that I must have communicated something. They were a fantastic audience and a few of their questions really got me thinking.
- Favourite question: 'Did your beard keep you warm?'
- Most thought-provoking question: 'If you could go on an expedition with anyone, who would it be?'
- Most left-field question: 'Do you live in London?' ('Yes.') 'Near Croydon?' ('Erm…')
The pupils talked a little about the personal challenges they had set themselves after following the expedition – one lad (10 or 11 years old) plans to ride his bike 30 miles in two days. How cool is that?
NB. You know you're living in the 21st century when kids take photos with their camera phones rather than asking you to autograph their exercise books. Blimey.
— Filed under Schools/Education, Speaking