I’m chatting with Jenny Tolhurst in her Danbury garden. She is the first female Lord Lieutenant of Essex, and has been in post for nine years. It is a multi-dimensional role across counties of the UK, representing and serving the monarch of the day. The man duties including organising royal visits, giving out King’s Awards for Volunteers and for Enterprise, and celebrating local action. She commends the rich voluntary work in the county on the environment and support for farmers. We talk about the day in 2002 when the seawalls were deliberately breached to create new marshland and reduce flood risk: “a glorious day” in late winter. Jenny is a sailor and painter: she is interested in light and playing with media.

“Don’t try to be precise,” she says. “Play more!”

Her objects are two bird sculptures by Essex artist Stephen Henderson.

She recommends two books: “English Pastoral” by James Rebanks, and “H is for Hawk” by Helen MacDonald.

Her recommendation: Go Sailing, Paint. “If you want to do it, you can.”

Website: https://essex-lieutenancy.org.uk/

My new book will be supporting this podcast, and will be published in March 2027 by Unbreaking/5m. It’s called "Bamboo and Butterfly: Transformation and Story for Climate and Nature Recovery."

In the churchyard of Great Henny church, I’m chatting in the breezy sunshine with Roger Morris, the Bishop of Colchester. He’s brought his purple hard hat. We’re at St Mary the Virgin church, one of six churches in the diocese of Chelmsford that has had to be closed because of the effects of climate change. Soils and ground experiencing severe wetting and then summer drying are moving, and 1000-year-old churches without foundations are moving too. At Great Henny both the east and west ends are cracking and sliding away. Two of the five marks of mission, he says, are foundational: challenging unjust structures, and addressing sustainability and the climate crisis. Other closed churches are at Twinstead and Little Wigborough. These profound threats have occurred only in the past five years or so.

The task is so huge, he says, yet Mother Theresa said of actions of individuals: “It might feel like a drop in the ocean, but the ocean is made of drops.”

Roger mentions the unseen heroines and heroes already taking action on climate and sustainability.

Roger recommends reading the new theology statement on sustainability due from The Synod in July 2026. He also says, change your energy provider to renewables, and don’t fly. The Church of England has committed to net zero in all its buildings by 2030. Even if they miss the target, it has helped galvanise action.

My new book will be supporting this podcast, and will be published in March 2027 by Unbreaking/5m. It’s called "Bamboo and Butterfly: Transformation and Story for Climate and Nature Recovery."

In his home in Stroud, oral storyteller and author Anthony Nanson chats about story and the current polycrises. We hear about the three essential ingredients for narrative story: progression of events in time, characters embodied, the imagery of place. Anthony talks of the vulnerability of storytelling, and yet its limitless possibility too. He talks of the Bath Storytelling Circle and storytelling workshops for midwifes under pressure in the NHS. Through enchantment, story creates intent and imagination that counter the problems of deterministic thinking. He says, “Kindness towards other people will be essential to address the crises.”

Anthony’s books include Storytelling and Ecology, and his novel Deep Time.

He recommends Lindsey Clarke’s Green Man Dreaming, and Kim Stanley Robinson’s Ministry of the Future. His hero is Edward Garnett, publisher’s reader in the early 1900s. His action: try meditation.

Anthony’s website: http://www.anthonynanson.co.uk/

His publishing house, Awen: https://www.awenpublications.co.uk/

See also Fire Springs Storytellers at: http://www.firesprings.org.uk/index.html

My new book will be supporting this podcast, and will be published in March 2027 by Unbreaking/5m. It’s called "Bamboo and Butterfly: Transformation and Story for Climate and Nature Recovery."