Walking the length of Wales, author Tom Bullough discovered how urgently we need action on climate issues. He paints a portrait of a nation in the midst of dramatic change in his book Sarn Helen. Here, he talks to BBC Countryfile magazine.
What is Sarn Helen and what inspired you to walk it?
Sarn Helen is a Roman road. It once ran the length of Wales, and it still runs clearly through the Brecon Beacons, where I live. I have wanted to walk its full course for years, but I didn’t set out until July 2020, just after the first Covid lockdown. Like so many of us, I was desperate to see a different landscape – and there was Sarn Helen, as if pointing the way.
The book is as much about the climate crisis as it is about Wales. What was the most urgent climate issue you became aware of during your walk?
That’s tricky, because everything is interconnected and we have left ourselves so very few options. We need “everything, everywhere, all at once”, as António Guterres, the UN Secretary General said recently. On the walk itself, I was keenly aware of the collapse in our wildlife populations – from curlew to water vole, salmon to kestrel – but also, with the ever-present noise of engines, just how basically reliant we are on fossil fuels.
Your book includes illustrations by Jackie Morris; what was it like working with The Lost Words artist?
To work with Jackie has been the greatest honour. When she agreed to be involved, I literally danced on the spot. Her illustrations show various species at imminent risk of extinction in Wales – at risk, indeed, throughout the UK – but they possess such life that you can only be inspired. Two of them are framed in my kitchen. I gaze at them in wonder daily.
You took part in Extinction Rebellion protests; how did those experiences influence the book?
Deeply. One key thing I’ve learnt from my time with Extinction Rebellion is how many people are now grasping the scale of the climate and ecological emergency. To feel alone with the facts is a desperate business. It can leave you feeling paralysed. To try, at least, to be part of the solution allows you to function again. Without Extinction Rebellion there would have been no book. It’s really as simple as that.
Is your book Sarn Helen also a call to action for us all?
Yes, in a word. I spoke to various scientists while preparing the book, and I was left in no doubt that we are currently on track for the “worst-case scenario” – meaning famine, coastal inundation, mass displacement and global conflict. In the end, this is the only issue. Everything we know and love depends on us changing direction, now – and, for that, everybody must get involved. Ideally, today!
Sarn Helen by Tom Bullough, published by Granta, £16.99 (HB) is available now.
