It was a sheer delight to work with Helen Madden on a BBC programme about the Northern Ireland countryside

(The article, in Roamer, can be read here: ‘Remembering the multi-talented country traveller Miss Helen’)

Reference was made to the BBC programme ‘Up Country’.

I did not know Helen until one day when she rang up to see if I would agree to take part in the first edition of a programme designed to bring to life in an informal, chatty manner aspects of the Northern Ireland countryside.

At the time I was working for what is now the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, surveying and managing nature reserves, and country parks. The concept of such a programme appealed to me, and so I readily agreed.

A few afternoons later, we headed for the middle of County Down, where we followed the River Lagan from its source on the slopes of Slieve Croob to somewhere close to Belfast.

This was to be the first of many visits to a wide range of interesting naturally-rich parts of the east of the Province - and at many hours of the day.

In his tribute, Roamer recalls a broadcast from Shaftesbury Square at night — this was one of the most unusual and also one of the most memorable, not just to me but also to some others who were frequent listeners to the programme.

At the opposite end of the day, we undertook a dawn chorus visit well before breakfast time to capture the awakening songs of the birds - and on the way there Helen’s little Mini nearly came adrift when it hit a water-filled pothole!

I remember being accused of undertaking the recordings in the studio - this of course was a false accusation, except on one occasion. when we were scheduled to visit Rathlin.

Unfortunately, a gale blew up and we were unable to leave Belfast. So, undeterred. we went down to the shore of Belfast Lough where we captured the sound of the sea and described the thousands of seabirds which we could see and hear in our imagination. All went well until a train went by, blowing its horn with a sound most unlike a puffin!

Needless to say, this led to a retake of part of the programme and did not appear on the finished broadcast!

Working with Helen was a sheer delight — looking back on it, I’m not sure that the word ‘working’ really describes how it all seemed at the time.

I was privileged to have spent so many happy hours passing on my knowledge and love of the countryside and its wildlife to a wide audience with such a pleasant and encouraging companion.

Joe Furphy, Belfast BT9

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