American actress and comedian Liz Guterbock and Christopher Beanland

WHEN I think back to some of my most meaningful conversations, they have so often taken place on walks with friends in green spaces. The magical combination of walking and talking alongside nature, far away from the chaos of the city, unencumbered by traffic, is somehow freeing.

Writer Christopher Beanland had a similar such epiphany during the pandemic lockdowns.

Forced to meet friends (and dates) in parks, it got him thinking about these public places and how incredibly vital they are to our wellbeing.

He too found the park setting conducive to easy and often entertaining chat and wanted to see if he could make audio recordings to capture that magic. And so it was during one of the many snatched moments with friends (and dates) in the great outdoors that he came up with the idea for the podcast, Park Date.

“Basically everything came from lockdown when we were spending a lot of time in parks and rediscovering the beauty and joy of the park and how important they are as public spaces,” he says.

“So from that I ended up writing a book about parks and the podcast came from those experiences that we all had in lockdown when we were only really allowed to socialise by walking around in the park.”

The premise is simple: go on a walk with someone interesting and record it.

As the blurb for the podcast says it mixes “comedy and chat with writers, thinkers, artists, musicians and comics”.

Among his guests so far have been director and filmmaker Michael Cumming, who has worked with comedy greats including Chris Morris and Stewart Lee. That walk was on Hampstead Heath.

“We have a very similar sense of humour and I think it works quite well because he’s remembering these very silly, very funny stories about seeing Melvyn Bragg on the Heath and wanting to pitch a programme to him or talking about when he woke up on the main stage at Glastonbury Festival.”

Other guests have included comedian Shazia Mirza in Hyde Park and writer and filmmaker Iain Sinclair at Gallions Reach Park In Thamesmead, Greenwich.

Christopher says he wanted something informal and steered clear of the conventional interview format.

“When you’re in a relaxed walking and talking scenario I think people kind of open up and I was trying to channel those nice conversations that you have between friends when you’re having a coffee and a walk through a park. And, even if it’s a celebrity I’m talking to I wanted to make it feel like that nice conversation. It’s not like: ‘Oh, tell me about this thing or that thing’. I never have a list of questions. I think it’s nice to let the conversation flow.”

He can certainly do unscripted. He is irreverent, witty and easy company, and crucially, lets his guests go off on the occasional wild tangent.

There is also a lot of (very infectious) laughter with his guests as well as the sound of distant dogs, children playing and grass/sticks/gravel under foot, which all makes for a joyful auditory experience.

“I wanted to keep as much of that sound, within reason. I didn’t heavily edit it as I really wanted to keep the atmosphere of the park,” he says from his home in Hackney. “I wanted to leave it quite raw, although I did take out the very loud noises of cars and stuff, but otherwise left it as it is.

“My main concern has been the wind: I am a slave to the weather forecast. The hint of wind, and obviously rain, and the recording can’t happen as the sound just won’t be good. I’ve come to despise the wind.”

Not that inclement weather has been too much of a problem on some of his more far-flung Park Dates, which have taken him to among others Barangaroo Reserve, Sydney, and Central Park in New York.

Christopher’s equipment is very basic: a small Zoom digital recorder (which he carries in his hand).

There are no clip-on mics – it’s all very free form and natural so much so that it feels quite immersive – as if you’re on the walk with them.

Hampstead Heath is a particular favourite for him having lived near Camden Town for several years.

“I would regularly go there as it was on my running route,” he says. “I’d run up to the top of Parliament Hill and I loved it and I still love it. Being a Yorkshire lad I love the hills. It feels like you’re in the countryside: wild and beautiful.

“There’s also the literary history of the place. I’m a big George Orwell fan and I used to enjoy walking past his house on the edge of the Heath.”

Christopher is the perfect park advocate – enthusiastic, knowledgeable, but also full of wonder for Hampstead Heath and our parks.

“When you see people flying kites there and having picnics you realise just what a really wonderful, precious place it is.”

• Park Date can be found at parkdate.co.uk also at instagram.com/christopherbeanlandcomedy
• City Parks: A stroll around the world’s most beautiful public spaces by Christopher Beanland is published by Batsford. For more information go to christopherbeanland.com
• Love Parks: Keep Britain Tidy’s annual campaign celebrates parks, green spaces, and the dedicated volunteers and workers that look after them. This year, Love Parks Week runs from July 28-August 6. See https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/