My Body Is a Meadow: Finding Freedom in The Outdoors by Bethany Handley

Next spring, the meadow will burst into rhythm again. My body is blooming too. I adopt the gentle cycle of flowering, resting and emerging.

Today, nearly one in four people are Disabled in the UK. Public rights of way are blocked in 32,000 places across England and Wales. My Body is a Meadow writes into this troubling landscape. Passionate and political, it  delivers a galvanising call for us to rethink how we live among nature and each other. Lyrical and personal, Bethany  Handley invites readers to wheel alongside her as she explores ableism, climate justice and what nature means to  her.

On this journey, we discover the feral boar of the Forest of Dean and one of the first places in Britain to industrialise; how the metal and rubber of a wheelchair can become just as much a part of your body as skin and bone; why swifts rarely land and how maps tell a story of exclusion. Unearthing parallels between land ownership and  privatised healthcare, loss of biodiversity and social marginalisation, My Body is a Meadow explores the lessons nature can teach us about inclusion and interdependence. This is a rallying cry for us to stop gatekeeping nature and work together to make it open to everyone.

In the following video, Bethany talks to Country Living UK about making the countryside more accessible.