In September 1992, wearing my trademark purple Doc Martens and a t-shirt emblazoned with the words, 'STOP KILLING THE WORLD", I finally left the conservative confines of Grammar School and my home, in Kent, and began my global environmental tubthumping journey. In my naivety, I didn't realise that attending an English agricultural college was probably about as far from environmental activism as I could get!
What is a tub-thumper? A vociferous supporter or promoter, as of a cause.
Collins English Dictionary (Harper Collins Publishers, 2022)
WELCOME TO MY BLOG! My first three blog posts will take you on a 40 year condensed journey of why I became an environmental tubthumper and why I am now undertaking a PhD.
Here's how it all started: I first aspired to be an environmental tub-thumper as a young teenager. It was around 1988, aged 14, when I became hooked on the Mancunian tones and politics of the indie-rock band The Smiths, and my favourite singer-song writer Essex-boy, Billy Bragg. Whilst Morrisey and anti-fur trade posters adorned my teenage bedroom walls, many of my friends decorated their school desks with pictures of the blonde-haired, clean cut boy band, Bros. Whilst my peers were singing, "When will I be famous?" I was wearing a second-hand trench coat from Oxfam and chanting the lyrics of Billy's "A New England". And, whilst several of them took the pathway to University, I chose to head to agricultural college to discover if Morrisey's view that "Meat is Murder", was in fact, right.
In September 1992, wearing my trademark purple Doc Martens, a personal symbol of determination and passion, and a t-shirt emblazoned with the words, "STOP KILLING THE WORLD", I left the conservative confines of Grammar School and my home, in Kent, and began my global environmental tubthumping journey. In my naivety, I did not realise that attending an English agricultural college in the heart of Shropshire, was probably as far away from environmental activism as I could get! However, off I went to Harper Adams with a spring in my step and the enthusiasm of youth.
The day that I left home and arrived at Harper, was the day that I stopped eating meat (my parents had refused to indulge my vegetarian fantasy whilst living under their roof!). I was earnest in my devotion to my new-found vegetarianism, and was determined to show the other agricultural students, what I believed to be the true path to enlightenment. However, my commitment to the cause lasted two weeks. This was partly, because I lived in 'Halls of Residence' and partly because, I admit, I have very little resolve when it comes to a juicy steak or bacon and eggs. As long as they were free-range, who could resist? In Halls, we were provided with a warm bed, new found friendships and all our food - breakfast, lunch and dinner. There were limited menu choices at Agricultural College in the 1990s, and there was no vegetarian movement to rock the boat. So by week two, cooked breakfasts were back in vogue and my fling with tofu was well and truly over.
With an open mind and willingness to learn about what really happens on farms, I began a new love affair with the land. I became a strong advocate for British farming and supported my friends whose families had tilled the land for centuries. The overwhelming politics at Harper in the 1990s was, I determined, more Conservative than my conservative childhood. However, I maintained my passion for leftwing inspired music and continued to wear my Doc Martens and political t-shirts, albeit far more quietly.
After four years of study, I graduated with a degree in Rural Enterprise and Land Management and inadvertently found myself, 12 months from qualifying as a Rural Practice Chartered Surveyor. I knew little about what a Surveyor actually did, but I concluded that I would have more credibility to advise farmers on good environmental practice if I had a qualification that they recognised and respected. Unfortunately, once qualified, I found myself back in a largely conservative world. There is no disrespect intended to my good friends who wear tweed jackets and cord trousers, but this was, a far-cry from my own fashion and politics. Somehow, I had found myself in a profession that in part, made its fortunes on determining and maintaining land ownership rights for English Society and I had veered a very long way from Billy Bragg's "New England".
This, coupled with events in America in 2001, which negatively impacted our global communities, the long commutes that my husband and I were taking and a desire to live a quieter more sustainable life, led to a huge change in my life. If you'd like to know more about my tub-thumping journey, please read my second blog post.
#environment&society
The trig station at Pukekura, The Sugar Loaf Hill, Taradale. Trig stations are a fixed mark used by surveyors.
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