‘I feel at home here'

People’s poet Pam Ayres tells TV Times about her lifelong love of the Cotswolds

- IAN MACEWAN

Pam, what’s your personal connection to the Cotswolds?

I’ve lived in and around the Cotswolds all my life. I love it because I understand the country way of life, and I feel like I know the hedgerows, trees, birds and mammals. I feel at home here, and the Cotswolds is alive, lush and breathing.

What were the highlights during making this travelogue?

Taking a narrowboat along the Kennet and Avon Canal – it’s so green and lovely as you travel along at three miles an hour.

I also liked the pottery at Winchcombe. Before plastic, many villages had a pottery where they made household goods.

You try some expensive perfume in episode one. What luxuries do you spend money on?

I’m into wildlife more than anything, and I’ve just bought 300 trees to plant. I love choosing native trees that will provide nectar or fruit for wildlife. That’s my big luxury.

You also meet a beekeeper who produces comb honey. Do you still keep bees?

I did, but we’ve downsized and now we have neighbours, and bees do swarm. I didn’t want people coming round saying, ‘There’s a swarm of bees up me gutter!’

Jeremy Clarkson is a famous Cotswolds resident. Did you watch his recent TV series, Clarkson’s Farm (streaming now on Amazon Prime Video)?

I did, and I enjoyed it, although some of it made me cringe, because I couldn’t believe he was as ill-informed as he appeared to be! But it was funny and informative.

Has the Cotswolds inspired any of your poetry?