Stornoway’s Oli Steadman on his 30-mile woodland walk in south London

Welcome to the Unlocking Landscapes podcast with me, Daniel Greenwood!

Oli Steadman is a founding member of the indie folk pop band Stornoway. Inspired by their music’s deep connection to biodiversity conservation, he has been obsessed for some years with the quest to #FreeTheBatteryHuman, by connecting people to the great outdoors.

This is the mission behind all of the band’s songs (most of which reference specific wild habitats), and behind Oli‘s fundraising hike taking place next month in aid of the Fourth Reserve Foundation who are doing a fantastic job of maintaining Buckthorne Cutting as a nature reserve. It is part of what was once the Great North Wood, a vital part of London’s commercial and folkloric history.

Here are the links to everything we cover in the conversation.

• Walking 48km (30 miles) around the historic Great North Wood 
• Fundraiser for Buckthorne Cutting
• Fourth Reserve Foundation
• Conservation Conversations - Oli’s podcast
• Mischief Acts (the Great North Wood novel) by Zoe Gilbert
• Woodland inspiration with Zoe Gilbert - my recording with Zoe in 2022
• The Great North Wood project podcast with Chantelle Lindsay and Sam Bentley-Toon
• Stornoway performing for stranded Eurostar passengers 
• Stornoway on YouTube
• Stornoway’s Linktree
• Stornoway's upcoming concert at the Royal Albert Hall in late March
• Unlocking Landscapes podcast website

Thanks for listening!