Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Forensic ecologist who uses plant and pollen evidence to solve some of Britain's most notorious murders.
On the island
Eight records
Nocturne in D-flat majorFavourite
I was convinced that Chopin was my grandfather. And I went to school and told all the teachers, and my grandfather was Chopin, and they all thought I was a funny little girl. But I conflated them, you see, and I was convinced of it. But all the sounds are so wonderful and plaintive and beautiful.
This reminds me of my father so much, because when I hear this voice, it's my father's voice, and I remember I spent so much of my childhood ill in bed. I was a sickly child. And he used to come into my bedroom and I used to say, No, I don't want you to sing to me in here, it's too loud. Go out and sing to me properly and he used to go out onto the landing and sing properly. And Billy Eckstein's voice is my father's voice, so it makes me go sort of weepy-ish when I hear it. It's my foolish heart.
Who can ever forget Bill Haley and the Comets? I mean, when I was in my mid-teens, I remember going to Kevin Forrest Miners' Welfare Institute Hall. And first of all, it was all ballroom dancing, but they eventually gave in to the rock and roll. And I remember having a fantastic time. And I remember it being played in the cinemas, and people were dancing in the aisles. And it was fabulous.
Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 (first movement)
It has to be some Bach, doesn't it? Who could live without Bach? I couldn't. It's so difficult to choose a piece. But I have chosen something from Brandenburg Concerto No. 4. And you know, the one thing about that grammar school was it did give you appreciation of all sorts of things. And we used to have prayers every morning. And before the headmistress came in, we'd all stand there like soldiers. This highly polished floor, the navy blue and white uniforms all very deferential. And they used to play classical music every morning. And it was a joy that was really joyful. And I remember I remember summer with the the sunshine coming through on the polished floor and listening to the Brandenburg concerto. It's so strong in my mind.
Myfanwy sung by the Triorki Male Voice Choir. And what is wonderful about this? There are these strong men singing with this wonderful gentle voice. I mean, that's very seductive, isn't it? It's wonderful. I don't like machoness for the sake of it. It's this gentleness accompanied with strength.
Piano Concerto No. 21 (last movement)
Who could do without Mozart? I couldn't live without Mozart. This is piano concerto number 21, but not the popular Elvira Madigan part, which is very lovely anyway. But I want the joyful part. I don't play very well, but I love Mozart. I love playing Mozart. The intricacy and the patterning and the colour and the joyfulness in Mozart. Even in his Requiem, the beauty of that is incredible, and the colour in that is beautiful. I couldn't live without Mozart.
I mean, the Beatles were very much there in my youth and I bought their very, very first recording and I had all the Beatles recordings. Still got a lot of them, of course. And I love her. How romantic is that?
Love Will Keep Us Together. Neil Sedaka. I love Neil Sedaka's voice. My husband and I, it's our song. We are so similar in our attitudes to life. You know, love will keep us together, and we do love each other very much.
In conversation
Presenter asks
2:00How does [palynology] work exactly and how much pollen is around us, even in winter?
Oh, there's lots even in winter. I mean, there are always things flowering in winter. Have you noticed how early the hazel catkins come out? I mean, really, very early. But not only that, you've got last year's pollen as well, because when the wind swirls up the fallen leaves, they're swirling pollen back into the air. So you have secondary circulation, secondary deposition. And people forget that. And it's something that a forensic scientist must keep in mind because they say, Oh, you can tell the time spring, summer. It's not that easy because you do get this recirculation and you see things.
Presenter asks
9:16Tell me a little bit more about your parents' relationship. You said they were both charismatic but selfish, so it sounds like they would have been in conflict a lot.
Oh, yes, a lot of conflict. And I describe my early life as being. If it was a graph, it would be peaks and troughs and peaks and troughs, all brightly coloured, and it was difficult. The only rounded, soft parts were when I was with my grandmother.
Presenter asks
9:47The keepsakes
The book
Arthur Mee's Children's Encyclopedias
Arthur Mee
they're full of information. You can learn so much from them and they're also full of stories and history. And you know, you can be entertained as well.
The luxury
Because I can cook my food in it, I can make my soap in it, and I can make my face cream. I need a vessel.
So [your grandmother] was Vera May and obviously very nurturing and loving for you. Very strict. So did she introduce you to your love of nature? Does that go back to your time with her?
Oh, yes. She used to take all the t they had to go picking blackberries and all the rest of it and she'd bottle them for the winter and she understood the hedgerows and she understood plants and animals. She'd show me birds' nests and she'd show me where to look for things and to show me how you you could actually eat young hawthorn leaves and they're quite nice and and so on.
Presenter asks
27:22In 2002 you were asked to help with the Soham murders case. How did you go about helping the police to build a case against their main suspect, the school caretaker Ian Huntley?
Well, it was decided that when the girls were found I would be first into the ditch because I'd be looking for these little clues. And when we got to the scene it was very quiet. There was a tent there. And they said, What we want to know is how the perpetrator, how the murderer, got into the ditch, because we can't find a path in. The nettles were up chest high. So I walked carefully up and down, and immediate well, not immediately, but very soon, I could see two pathways. One was towards the top end, but I knew it wasn't an important one, because it went down into a ditch, and there was just it was full of so full of twigs, the whole thing was full, and it was very, very, very faint. And then at the other end, very close to where they'd put their cordon, actually, I found another one which was much more obvious. ... I looked at the little side shoots, and it's the number of places where the leaves come off. It's not the length, because length is variable, it's the number. And I thought, this has taken about two weeks to grow. And I said to the police, yes, it's about two weeks. And I showed them where we now know it's Huntley, had got into the ditch. and I found Jessica's hair on a twig. And basically he must have put her over his shoulder, and her hair had got caught on that twig.
Presenter asks
31:00I wonder about the mix of emotions when your evidence helps with a successful conviction like that. Are you able to experience a feeling of satisfaction? And what else is in the mix? Because it must be quite complicated.
I suppose there is a sort of satisfaction that you've solved a puzzle. And it's really nice that you've been proved right. That's the good thing. Oh, yes, now I can use that information because I know what that's told me. I can use that in the future. And you must learn case to case, absolutely. Oh, my word. Everyone is different. There's always a new puzzle. There's always a new challenge.
Presenter asks
36:10You lost your daughter, Sean, many years ago. She was just a toddler. It must have been a heartbreaking time for you. How did you cope?
I never have coped, really. I don't think you cope with the loss of a child. Even after all these years she's there every day. And it's very, very difficult to put into words because I don't have words. They're all feelings, you see. I always say to people when they're bereaved, it's very lonely. Nobody can help you with bereavement. Nobody can help you with bereavement. It does get easier over time, but it never goes away. And I think there are no platitudes. You can't say anything. The loss is the loss.
“Oh, there's lots even in winter. I mean, there are always things flowering in winter. Have you noticed how early the hazel catkins come out? I mean, really, very early. But not only that, you've got last year's pollen as well, because when the wind swirls up the fallen leaves, they're swirling pollen back into the air. So you have secondary circulation, secondary deposition. And people forget that. And it's something that a forensic scientist must keep in mind because they say, Oh, you can tell the time spring, summer. It's not that easy because you do get this recirculation and you see things.”
“Oh yes, my grandmother, my mother's mother. ... I describe my early life as being. If it was a graph, it would be peaks and troughs and peaks and troughs, all brightly coloured, and it was difficult. The only rounded, soft parts were when I was with my grandmother.”
“I found another one which was much more obvious. ... I looked at the little side shoots, and it's the number of places where the leaves come off. It's not the length, because length is variable, it's the number. And I thought, this has taken about two weeks to grow. And I said to the police, yes, it's about two weeks. And I showed them where we now know it's Huntley, had got into the ditch. and I found Jessica's hair on a twig. And basically he must have put her over his shoulder, and her hair had got caught on that twig.”
“I never have coped, really. I don't think you cope with the loss of a child. Even after all these years she's there every day. And it's very, very difficult to put into words because I don't have words. They're all feelings, you see. I always say to people when they're bereaved, it's very lonely. Nobody can help you with bereavement. Nobody can help you with bereavement. It does get easier over time, but it never goes away. And I think there are no platitudes. You can't say anything. The loss is the loss.”
“I think it's incredibly comforting. You know, my ashes are going to be sprinkled with those of my cats and my other animals that I've I've had cremated and put put in the woodlands, and I am going to be recycled along with them and I will be reincarnated. That's true reincarnation because my molecules will be used and they'll be reincarnated as a tree or a bluebell or a beetle.”
“Yes, and he was the director of the International Mycological Institute. And you so you were familiar with his work already? Well, I had his books on my shelf and I was teaching his work to my students. I thought he'd be absolutely ancient. And there was this young man, well, young man, I'm not young, I wasn't young, about my age, you know, very jolly and cheerful. And that was that. And I said to him, you wouldn't help me identify a spore, would you? ... And then I sent him pictures by email and he sent it back and then we started writing to each other. And then he identified some more and then and so it went and the rest is history really.”