I WAS SAVED BY THE BEAUTY OF THE LAKES
The intrepid TV traveller’s mental health suffered in lockdown, but immersing himself in Cumbria’s stunning landscape has helped put him back on track
HE HAS struggled with his mental health for years – and even considered taking his own life – but exploring the idyllic Lake District for his latest TV series has boosted Simon Reeve’s “head, heart and soul” and helped him regain his confidence. As a teenager, Simon was so depressed after dropping out of school he even considered jumping off a motorway bridge, but eventually “chose life”.
However, the past two years have not been easy. To an intrepid explorer like Simon, who holds his demons at bay by travelling to some of the farthest flung, most isolated places on earth for his award-winning documentaries, lockdown was a huge challenge.
“I felt trapped and claustrophobic being cooped up within the same four walls,” confesses the 49-year-old presenter.
“I found it a real struggle because I really need travel, adventures and experiences more than anything in my life.
“I know that sounds a bit ‘me, me, me’ and really pretentious but we have to understand how important travel is. At its best, it gives you encounters and memories you will have for the rest of your life.
“I struggled with that when it was withdrawn. I am probably the maddest person in my family and it got a bit ridiculous when my 10-year-old son was having to counsel me and I am supposed to be the dad.
“Obviously I did dad duties. I played football until I thought my heart was going to give way and I attempted to home school until we had pulled all our hair out.
“But I am a restless soul, so being in one place was tough. But then the opportunity came along to explore the county of Cumbria, and I couldn’t believe my luck.”
And explore he did, climbing to the top of Scafell Pike (at 978 metres, England’s highest mountain) and wild swimming in the freezing cold waters of Lake Buttermere.
“Reaching the top of Scafell Pike, I felt such a sense of achievement and it was such a boost for the head, heart and soul,” says Simon. “It’s good to throw myself into these challenges because it helps my mental health no end and boosts my confidence. Buttermere has a fabulous glacial beauty and it’s clean, clear, and perfect for a wild swim.”
Although for the 20 million tourists a year who visit its near 1,000 square miles, the Lake District epitomises tranquility and leisure, many of the 40,000 people living within the park’s borders work desperately hard to scratch a living in difficult conditions.
CUMBRIA’S traditional industries, such as farming and mining, have been hit hard and Simon learned about the harsh reality of life away from the walking trails and picture-postcard tea rooms for his three-part documentary, The Lakes, which starts tomorrow night.
“I went to see tenant farmers David and Gail Thompson, who own Gales Farm, which is 140 acres in size,” recalls Simon. “Farming on the uplands is much tougher than at lower altitudes, especially with regards to the sheep that can be bred there. Lambing season can still be touch and go and the farmers have to be hardy enough to survive the harsh climate.
“Sixteen per cent of the land in the Lake District National Park is common land. And farmers like David have the right to graze their sheep on the open fell.
“When the snow on the fell comes it is tough but earning a living on these hills is getting harder and harder. As a country, we seem happy to pay less than almost any other nation for our food while importing lamb from around the planet.
“In recent years, the average income of an upland farmer in England has been as low as £12,000 a year. Unless we’re willing to buy British and pay more for our food, traditional industries like hill farming could die out. David said he would be better off financially if he was stacking shelves in Sainsbury’s and Tesco, which is absolute madness.” The shortage of workers after the pandemic, and second home owners driving up the price of property, have had a disastrous impact on the hospitality industry.
“Holiday places in Ambleside and elsewhere struggle because there are not enough people who live locally, so they have to bus employees in, from up to 100 miles away, every day,” Simon says. “Houses in the park cost double the amount of that outside and it means that villages are devoid of locals who feel they are being conned – and are really fed up.” There is also an ongoing battle to preserve the area’s natural wildlife, which is in steady decline. The last golden eagle in Cumbria died five years ago and more than half of the lakes and rivers are classified as being in an unfavourable condition or worse.
“The state of them is really disheartening and nature is struggling to survive,” declares Simon.
“I met a lady called Julie
Bailey, who’s been battling to protect one of Britain’s rare and native animals, the red squirrel. It is one of the iconic animals of the region. But grey squirrels could now outnumber reds by 100 to one. Julie and many conservationists believe one way of protecting the reds is by shooting the greys.
“Their pelts are used to make waistcoats, the local fishermen have them for fishing flies and Julie also cooks the meat. Her husband Phil likes squirrel madras!
“Culling is controversial. Some experts think it’s futile and the greys are here to stay. Secretly, I am glad that I saw no squirrels being shot! I have got quite a soft spot for squirrels, whatever their colour.”
Populations of other important wildlife have plummeted by 60 per cent over the past 50 years and biodiversity is threatened.
“I went to Ennerdale Water where there are lots of lovely forests and I met Gareth
Browning, who is the head forester and he was cutting down a Sitka spruce, a North American tree,” says Simon. “It might look like the destruction of the forest but it’s actually one of the biggest rewilding projects in the entire country.
“Gareth and his team are planting half a million new native trees recreating the sprawling natural forests and giant old trees that were here before they were cleared by humans.”
Away from the stunning scenery of the lakes and mountains is Sellafield, the large nuclear site built in the Second World War. It houses 140 tons of highly toxic platinum, which is enough to build tens of thousands of nuclear weapons.
It is now the subject of one of the biggest decommissioning projects in history, with around 11,000 people working on the cleanup, which is estimated to cost the Government about £73million a year for the next century to complete.
“It’s the most hazardous industrial site in Western Europe and incredibly it has enough nuclear waste to fill a shopping bag for every single person in the country,” reveals Simon. “It was so dangerous and I had to change out of everything and strip right down to my underpants and our camera equipment had to be forensically and surgically checked for any radiation going in and out.
“I had a monitor on my heart which checked my exposure to radiation. It was scary but we had a lot of scientists with us. Walking around parts of it reminded me of Chernobyl. I found it horrifying and astonishing and it was a relief to leave its toxic shell behind.”
THERE is no doubting the dangerous element to Simon’s job. But as a father to Jake, 10, his son with wife Anya, does he worry that one wrong move could prove fatal? “I do, and my big responsibility is to my son but I am careful and I don’t go away with idiots,” he declares. “I like to be the craziest person on the team so I know that nobody is going to do something dafter than me and that helps me keep an understanding of how we are all likely to behave in a tricky situation.”
Having survived meningitis and pneumonia as a child, he says near-death “lurks within me – I have used a few of my nine lives”.
But at the age of 34, there was yet more bad medical news to come.
“I was told it would be impossible for me to have children. It knocked me sideways in the way that nothing else has in such an aggressive way,” he confesses.
“I only decided to speak about it very recently and I wanted people to know why it happened.
“When I changed my diet and started to eat cleanly, my wife fell pregnant.”
Sadly their bid to have a second child failed, even with fertility treatment. But, ever one to look for the positives in life, Simon refuses to be down about it.
“I am very lucky to be a dad at all,” he says, beaming.