BBC Radio 4 recording today

Today we had the pleasure of hosting Nicola and Helen from the BBC for the recording of an episode of the Radio 4 program "Open Country."  The program is about outdoor life in the UK and how landscapes can affect our lives.  The idea for their recording here today is that the C. S. Lewis Nature Reserve, which is behind the Kilns, is a favourite outdoor destination for locals.  But they were especially interested in the opportunity to record a program dedicated to C. S. Lewis, which will air on Maunday Thursday this spring.  They are both Lewis fans.  And to their delight, we were able to arrange for Walter Hooper - Lewis' personal secretary toward the end of his life - to be here to speak with them.  A one hour recording session turned into two hours.  We had a blast.

Sheila took a picture of me, Walter, Helen, and Nicola in the "common room" of the Kilns near the end of the recording.  We subsequently went up stairs for a bit. Walter is so full of good stories about Lewis - the ladies loved it.

Here we have Nicola and Helen recording Walter.  I was intrigued by the enormous fuzzy cover they had for the microphone!  Hilarious.  I wonder if it has a name. :-)

The team also recorded some conversation up in the nature reserve with the reserve warden, a representative of Holy Trinity Church, and a class of youngsters who were enjoying an outing today.  The program is only 25 minutes long, so there will be some heavy editing; Nicola has her work cut out for her.  As I said, it will be broadcast on Maunday Thursday, but available for listening and downloading for a year afterwards.  We'll probably have a reminder here plus a link when the time comes.