This is a wonderful and very poignant poem, written during the 1700s. It was a protest against English enclosures. Three centuries later and we still have wealthy people owning great swathes of open countryside and wilderness that is prohibited for the rest of us to enjoy!

The Goose and the Common

The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
But leaves the greater villain loose
Who steals the common from off the goose
The law demands that we atone
When we take things we do not own
But leaves the lords and ladies fine
Who take things that are yours and mine
The poor and wretched don’t escape
If they conspire the law to break
This must be so but they endure
Those who conspire to make the law
The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
And geese will still a common lack
Till they go and steal it back

Authors unknown — Circa 1700s

This is why I am passionate that the freedom to roam should be made into law, to allow for us all to enjoy our wonderful countryside and not just for the enjoyment of the few. All of the footpaths and bridleways that have been cut off should be reopened, woodland and forests opened for people to wander freely.

If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that nature is a great healer and calmer of worries. It offers so much to inspire us and is a proven tool for alleviating depression and other mental health issues.

I love to explore the wilderness as much as I can and I am frequently frustrated that woodlands are wired off with private signs to deter entry. Lakes and rivers are opened purely for people that pay to fish there or banned from swimming access. Grassland and open fields are cut off from entry. I feel that we have to change our mindset to realise that we don’t own nature, it’s for everyone to enjoy. In the UK, too much land is locked away at a time when many people need access to it. We have to do all that we can to encourage the young to embrace the countryside and become the new custodians of it to rejoin the disconnect that has been created in modern times.

In an ideal world, all of nature would be released out of ownership and be free to be explored, without boundaries. People that were custodians of certain areas, could manage that land but make it open for all to discover. It may seem radical to many that read my words, but we cannot, as a society, continue down the dark path we are travelling. A radical rethink of how we own and use the land has to happen.

We’ll all need more love in our lives when the pandemic has passed. Ultimately, if we are all allowed to learn to love our countryside, we will automatically want to care for and protect it. Love needs to be shared to build hope and bring about change. I believe that we can make a positive difference in the world by freely sharing access to nature, not increasingly restricting it.

I hope you enjoy reading the poem below, that I’ve written in response to the dangers of limiting access to nature and my hope for a more caring future.

When in Roam?

I squandered lonely as a cloud
all paths cut off, no open ground.
The right to roam, stripped for all
with warning signs in trees that fall.
Too much fence and walls of stone
to jigsaw fields with Mother’s bones

till the many rise, free manmade binds
with nature explored, not just in minds.
I dream to weave through woods and fields
swim lakes and rivers, bathe their yield,
take back the plots, from those that horde
and gift green treasures to us all

For what good is grass that’s locked away?
When all should wander, dance and play
through treescapes here and grasslands there
the freedom to wander without a care
in waterscapes, through pathway gates
step mountain stairs and great escapes

For no place should be our fear to tread
with no soil to sit and bread our bread
no boot to mud, no crack of twig
no inner child to buck and kid
no liquid play in pools of pure
no wonderlands to be our cure

It’s time to ease and equal share
our verdant treats with feet to dare.
Let’s educate the need for change
to have a world without fixed lanes.
When gardens bloom in children’s hearts
that’s where the seeds of conservation start

Our earth must switch from being owned
to boundaries erased and sins atoned.
Unbalanced rules raised with new effects
to level our blinding disconnect
with eyes wide open to soak the awe
of discovered sights with time to stall.

Can we embrace our views as far as can see
one land that’s open, loved and free?

#freedomtoroam #righttoroam #wilderness

This article was written by Jason Conway, an award-winning creative, artist, writer and poet, based in Stroud, Gloucestershire UK. You can find out more about his passions and his business at www.thedaydreamacademy.com or connect with him on social media.