Why Are City Parks Empty At Night?
What Excites You? What Frustrates You?
Happy Friday!
And a warm welcome from the Palace, where we’ve discovered the secret of the perfect cheese toastie: not sliced, grated.
For those of you new around these parts, welcome 👋 My name is David and I’m a writer, outdoor instructor, cyclist-at-large with Thighs of Steel, half of the team behind BBC Radio comedy Foiled, Expeditions Manager at British Exploring Society, and Advanced Wilderness Therapeutic Guide (in training).
Yes, that is too many hats.
In this newsletter, I write stories that help you and me understand the world (and ourselves) a little better.
Sometimes I walk alone in the dark, admiring silhouettes of bare winter trees.
What Excites You? What Frustrates You?
Sometimes I think we spend most of our lives either excited or frustrated, travelling between excited and frustrated moments, or talking secondhand about what excites or frustrates us.
The last four years of my professional life has been built on organising challenging adventures and expeditions that offer people plenty of both excitement and frustration, sometimes using the one to break through the other in a way that changes lives, like mine, forever.
Today I have two questions for you:
What excites you about your opportunities to connect with the natural world? This could be anything, but I particularly want to hear about the small things that you could do most days, not the big things that you might only do once in a lifetime.
What frustrates you about your opportunities to connect with the natural world? This could be absolutely anything. Little things, big things: I want to hear about whatever stands in your way — and even when you stand in your own way.
This game wouldn’t be any fun unless I shared my own two answers. So here we go:
One Thing That Excites Me…
Walking in nature at night, in total darkness or by the halflight of the moon.
One Thing That Frustrates Me…
The narrative of danger (not unjustified I hasten to add) around our outdoor spaces, especially our city parks.
Why Am I Asking?
One of my goals for 2026 is to start building my own nature connection and adventure business. The loose mission is fourfold:
Make memories.
Build communities.
Heal ourselves.
Find purpose.
Connecting with what excites me and frustrates me is a great way to generate ideas for guided walks and adventures. An even better way is to connect with what excites and frustrates you.
Your answers to those two questions will help me identify what people are looking for, and, more importantly, how I can help them.
Night Shift: City Park Edition
For starters, and inspired by my own answers, I’m offering a limited series of Night Shift group walks in Crystal Palace Park in January and February 2026.
The group element of these short early evening walks will not only begin to build community, but also allay fears about walking alone at night in the park. There is strength in numbers.
Only from a secure foundation will I be able to share what I find so precious and restorative about city parks at night, quiet havens from the hustle bustle of hard pavements and harsh streetlights.
Our bodies and brains are best restored by natural shapes, textures, and movement. The fractal patterns and gentle movements of trees or clouds, complex but predictable, are soft on our sensory systems.
The city is the opposite: straight lines, right angles, high contrast, uniform surfaces, repetitive lighting.
These artificial environments demand constant vigilence, where your brain is making endless micro-decisions about flashes of light, sudden movements and startling noises.
In nature, your nervous system can finally stand down — even, given the right support, in your local city park.
In the constant barrage of sound, light and movement, our natural spaces are vitally important in the city — and doubly so in winter, when darkness intensifies our danger signals, and the call of the indoors is irresistible.
So:
What excites you about your opportunities to connect with the natural world?
What frustrates you about your opportunities to connect with the natural world?
Reply by email or in the comments and we’ll pick up the conversation next time.
Thank you.
ps: If you’re interested in joining any of the Crystal Palace Park Night Shift walks, they will take place on weekday evenings after dark in January and February. Email me for more details. The group walks are fully insured and free to access, donations welcome.
Thank You
Huge thanks to all the paying subscribers who helped make this story possible. You know who you are. Thank you. 💚
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As always, thank you for your eyeballs and thanks for your support.
diwyc,
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