Nic Wilson is a writer, editor and Guardian country diarist for Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. She works for BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine, specialising in wildlife, wild plants and environmental issues. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. Nic’s memoir on nature, place and chronic illness, Land Beneath the Waves, is her first book. Here, she shares her unique insights on what Purwell Ninesprings Nature Reserve, nature, and volunteering with the Trust mean to her.

When I moved to Hertfordshire 22 years ago, I missed the landscape and birds of the North. Although I live only a few minutes’ walk from one of the Trust’s reserves, at the time I thought you needed to be in the mountains or on the coast to engage with the natural world. How wrong I was.

I became a stay-at-home mum a few years later and started to explore the local area, gradually getting to know what would become ‘my patch’ – Purwell Ninesprings Nature Reserve on the edge of Hitchin. I realised the reedbeds, water meadows and alder carr (the wet woodland) were full of wildlife. This little reserve became a sanctuary for me, especially when I began to struggle with mental and physical health. 

I live with energy-limiting illness and chronic pain. Being in the reserve brings me a sense of peace that helps me relax. It also inspires me to learn more about the wildlife I see. I’ve spotted Otter spraint down by the River Purwell, Common and Jack Snipe in the reedbeds and fungi like Scarlet Elfcup in the woods. In the summer, Reed and Sedge Warbler breed in the reserve, and we get the Willow Emerald Damselfly and Migrant Hawker dragonflies around the reedbed ponds.

When my illness means I’m bed-realmed (unable to get out of bed) for days, or even weeks, I miss the sensory experience of the outdoors. So there’s nothing better than visiting the wet meadows when I begin to recover, to enjoy the scent of Water Mint and the sound of the wind playing the reeds. I also research local landscape history when I’m in bed – a completely different way to explore the reserve – through time rather than space. I’ve learnt that the reeds used to be cut and sold in Hitchin for thatching and that the town’s skaters turned the Purwell meadows into an ice rink in the winter. I’ve also read about the Medieval heronry near the springs, where young Herons (known as branchers) were caught and sent to London for banquets. There’s even a legend that Henry VIII visited in 1525 to go hunting for Herons down by the river.

Six years ago, I started to volunteer with the Trust at the reserve. I’ve learnt to lay hedges, coppice trees and scythe the meadows, and I’ve made good friends along the way. I love the sense of community that conservation volunteering provides. It’s helped me connect with local folk and given me a stronger sense of belonging. Now I’m an enthusiastic advocate of nearby nature and I help run Hitchin Nature Network, a community group working to make Hitchin a more nature-friendly town. I hope my nature memoir, Land Beneath the Waves, will encourage more people to notice the wildlife around them and be inspired by its great variety and beauty.

Land Beneath the Waves, published by Summersdale, is available from all good bookshops. You can follow Nic on Bluesky @nicwilson.bsky.social and find her book tour dates on her website: www.nicwilson.co.uk

Discover how a legacy donation is funding conservation work at Purwell Ninesprings Nature Reserve here.