Among many languages on the poster at the field’s entrance gate is a declaration in Ulster-Scots: This be oor fiel. Close to my home in the heart of an urban landscape, “our field” in Lower Botanic Gardens invites my idle wandering.
Going by the desire paths that crisscross its floodplain meadow, I follow in many footsteps. Recently rewilded and recultivated for a new age, this council-owned field has always responded to the needs of the times. The field grew vegetables during the second world war, and grew families in prefabricated housing after that war ended. Today, in subtle and transformative ways, this cherished place still provides for and protects local people.
